Charles Schulz's beloved characters were brought to zestful life on Friday night by a lively cast of six, lead by Jeff Fleming's endearingly self-deprecating turn as Charlie Brown. With his soulful, puppy dog eyes and trenchant inferiority complex, Fleming registers strongly on such Clark Gesner numbers as "The Kite," and he's surrounded by a first-rate ensemble adorned in primary color glory by JoAnn Savage's faultless costuming. Mark Goodney's picture-perfect set design and Michele Wronski's cleverly imagined props provide a rigorously faithful visual representation of Schulz's comic strip world. The characters of Schroeder and Sally benefit from two new songs, "Beethoven Day" and "My New Philosophy", written by Andrew Lippa, and sung with joyful gusto by Joshua Miller on the former, and mercurial verve by Kathryn Dumoulin on the latter. If there is a showstopper here, it would have to be Snoopy's rendition of "Suppertime," performed with revivalist fervor by the eminently entertaining Hans Foy, who makes Snoopy an Everydog for the canine community. Tyson Funk is a thumb-sucking delight as Linus on the affectionately delivered "My Blanket and Me," and later in the show, during the ensemble number "The Book Report," rattles off the thematic symbolism of "Peter Rabbit" with an unexpected intellectual acuity and confidence far beyond Linus' tender years and normally timorous personality. It's typical Schulz humor that Funk, blessed with elastic facial capabilities, can ideally capitalize on. Erica Meola does a great job of straddling the thin line between cruelty and sympathy as Lucy, and sings "Schroeder" with amusingly girlish infatuation. Another highlight is "The Baseball Game," everyone wearing their outsized baseball caps sideways just like they're supposed to. What all six actors have in common is the ability to attain a sense of childlike wonder about the world while questioning its complexities with very adult musings. It's a singular attribute that Schulz created and to which a venerable TV show like "The Simpsons" owes a very great debt. Director Linda Oroszko has tapped richly into the show's eccentric sweetness, and made Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Sally, Schroeder and Snoopy's yearnings, put-downs, insecurities, elations and frustrations wholly recognizable. It's fun to watch Fleming agonize over his interest in a red-haired girl whom he is positive doesn't even know he exists. He's so full of preemptive rejection that he's relieved when he takes a brown paper bag off his head and she's, thank goodness, not looking at him. Lucy may torment him through most of the show, an attitude that Meola exhibits with perfect playground hauteur, but in the end, even she has to fess up with redemptive balm, "You're a good man, Charlie Brown," as we are treated to the feel good finale, "Happiness." Elisabeth Anne Hughes' playful choreography is an added bonus, as is the solid musical contribution of Dennis Wrenn and his orchestra. Good grief, don't miss it! |
