Saturday, February 11, 2012

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown: Press Preview Review

Who hasn't heard of Charlie Brown?

Charles M. Schultz created this character in the classic comic strip "Peanuts" in 1950 and it has definitely played a huge part in my childhood.

I remember grabbing the daily newspapers to read the black-and-white comic strips and looking forward to the Sunday paper because you could only get colored comic strips on Sundays back in the day. (Wow. I sound old.)

And then there was the film "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" and "The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show" with all those epic songs. Ahhh... The good ol' days...


Well, if you miss the good ol' days as much as I do, then you will be very happy to hear that 9 Works Theatrical is actually staging the musical comedy "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" in Manila right now.


I was lucky enough to catch the press preview last Thursday and I have got to say it is well worth the time and money. It had been a while since I last saw something as funny as "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" onstage, so this was definitely a very welcome thing in my books.

The best part, though, is that it wasn't all about laughs, either. It was also heartwarming and touching at parts and so reminiscent of my childhood memories. Here are some images that you might recall from the comic strips (and yes, these were all done impeccably onstage!):

Snoopy as the World War I Flying Ace

Linus van Pelt and his security blanket

Lucy van Pelt with her psychiatrist booth

Charlie Brown at the baseball games


And my favorite character of all: Schroeder on his piano!!!

The only things missing from this show, really, was lil Woodstock and the whole 'sweet baboo' thing. I think they definitely should have had the sweet baboo musical number in there somewhere. Peanuts simply isn't complete without it, in my opinion.

I feel that watching the Peanuts characters onstage, though, was better for me than reading the comic strips when I was younger. Why? Coz I can actually relate to Charlie Brown now: to his habit of over-thinking and his overall pessimism - things I simply never knew of as a child.

Plus, it was wonderful to see Robbie Guevarra, Carla Guevarra-Laforteza, Lorenz Martinez, Franco Laurel, Tonipet Gaba and Sweet Plantado-Tiongson play the roles of Charlie, Lucy, Snoopy, Linus, Schroeder and Sally. With such a small cast, it was truly impressive how they all gave such memorable performances and with so much energy, to boot.

My favorite bits? Snoopy's jazz number and all of the Lucy bits. Watch out for them! ;)



Overall, "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" can be summarized in one single song: their final song, "Happiness". "Charlie Brown" will definitely bring happiness into your heart - no matter how depressed, pessimistic or skeptical you might be. You will especially love this show if you grew up with Peanuts like I did and you definitely won't be disappointed with how the characters turned out.

"You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" is now showing at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium of the RCBC Plaza in Makati and will run until March 3. For more information, please visit their official website or like their Facebook page. Thank you so much for the free tickets, 9 Works Theatrical! You're the best! :)

8 comments:

  1. I didn't grow up reading this comics but after reading your post,I feel so left out!I definitely gotta read them!And for the show,well,so much for being in Kolkata! I'm missing Kala Ghoda already,and now such amazing shows!:-(

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  2. My high school put on this play! I absolutely loved it! I love this play, it is so cute and funny! I love this post! I really enjoy plays and the theatre! This post is awesome! :)Glad you enjoyed the show!
    LB
    x0x0x0x

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  3. Love peanuts! I grew up with them. Not missing this :)

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  4. Sounds pretty fun. Gonna check it out.

    http://iifatree.blogspot.com/

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  5. Sucks I didn't get to see it with you :(

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  6. heard you're gonna be at the smash project! hope to see you there. or papicture na rin perhaps! ahaha!

    JC
    ferreroandfate.blogspot.com

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  7. Why can't these (musical) productions ever visit Dubai? :(

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  8. Catch it LIVE!

    Ticket Actors is selling tix for the MARCH 2nd; 8:00pm show of “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” by 9 Works Theatrical.

    For tickets to March 2, 2012, email ticketactors@gmail.com or text 09157161459.

    Support local theater!

    Help us spread the word.

    ReplyDelete