Kids and adults alike can enjoy a new celebration of Charlie Brown and the “Peanuts” with the Constellation Stage & Screen’s production of "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown!". The show, which opened Nov. 1, will run until Nov. 16.
The last performance at 4 p.m. Nov. 16 will be sensory-friendly, featuring lower sound levels and the absence of flashing lights.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the first “Peanuts” comic, written by Charles Schulz. In honor of the anniversary, the production hopes to hold true to the original characters.
“You can’t reinvent the ‘Peanuts,’” Mitchell Ward, director of the production, said. “There are so many audience members who will come to this show and who will have relationships with these characters already, and you have to honor that.”
The show features 12 songs written in 1967 by American composer Clark Gesner. Gesner's musical has since been adapted into an animated short film and a Broadway production. It’s also become a classic in community theaters.
Reagan Minnette, who plays Lucy Van Pelt, said she thinks it’s special to be able to work with a story that has so much history.
“I think one of the really cool things we talked about during rehearsal is how this is just media that has somehow survived through time and made an impact just because it was so genuine from the start,” Minnette said.
This production is part of Constellation Stage & Screen’s family-friendly series. The cast and crew said they hope to bring the classic two-dimensional characters into three dimensions for a young audience while sticking to the original story.
The production features all the iconic characters from the original comic and their props, including a doghouse and piano. The show also modernizes the story to connect with a young audience by including music from movies like Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters.”
Cassie Hakken, marketing director at Constellation Stage & Screen and the actor for Sally, has worked with Constellation since she graduated IU in 2019 with a degree in theatre and business.
Hakken said she usually works on the directorial side of things and that she has only recently started performing again, with this production being her first professional show in Bloomington. She said she hopes this show will bring people happiness and an appreciation for the smaller things in life.
“We do meet and greets with the kids after every public performance, so we’ve been getting a lot of really positive reactions from audiences then, and kids that are really excited to meet us and tell us about their favorite parts of the show,” Hakken said.
Ward says he doesn't need his audience to come away with any specific message, but he hopes Charlie Brown leaves people with positive feelings.
“I think Charlie Brown reminds us that it’s okay to fail and that we’re often better than we think we are,” Ward said, “I want it to be an hour and 15 minutes of sitting and feeling warm and fuzzy and for adults who have a history with the ‘Peanuts’ characters to be reminded of all those positive feelings.”
