You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown

With Charles Schultz’s appealing comic strip “Peanuts” as general inspiration, Clark Gesner created a musical out of events in “a day made up of little moments picked from all the days of Charlie Brown, from Valentine’s Day to the baseball season, from wild optimism to utter despair, all mixed with the lives of his friends (both human and non-human) and strung together on the string of a single day, from bright uncertain morning to hopeful starlit evening.” The human characters, none supposedly older than six, include crabby, authoritarian Lucy (Reva Rose), music-loving Schroeder (Skip Hinnant), sweet and innocent Patty (Karen Johnson), blanket-hugging Linus (Bob Balaban), and perplexed, uncertain and eternally put-upon Charlie Brown himself (Gary Burghoff). The non-human character, of course, is Charlie Brown’s highly imaginative pet dog Snoopy (Bill of the infamous Red Baron. Gesner at first had no plans for his “Peanuts” songs other than as a recording, and initially MGM issued the album as part of its kiddie line. Producer Arthur Whitelaw, however, persuaded the writer to put together a theatrical concept, and he presented it at a tiny East Village theatre where it remained four years. Be ed States. A second musical based on the “Peanuts” characters was Snoopy, written by Larry Grossman and Hal Hackaday. It opened Off Broadway in 1982 and ran for 152 performances. For other musicals taken from American comic strips, see Li’l Abner, page 171. You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Karen Johnson, Skip Hinnant, Reva Rose, Bill Hinnant, and Gary Burghoff. (Lawrence Belling)

Music

Clark Gesner

Lyrics

Clark Gesner

Book

Clark Gesner