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BUY THE CD
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Last week, I had the privilege of catching a performance of The Producers on Broadway, with Roger Bart starring as Leo Bloom. His performance was so good that, the next day, I booked it to my local music store to pick up a copy of the cast recording of the 1999 revival of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, which netted Roger Bart a Best Featured Actor Tony award for his role as Snoopy.
I don’t know why it took me so long to get a copy of this CD. It’s simply wonderful.
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown is a musical set in a day in the life of lovable pessimist Charlie Brown. Anyone even remotely familiar with Charles Schultz's immortal characters will immediately recognize the familiar situations Charlie Brown finds himself in: trying (and failing) to fly a kite, losing the big baseball game because he can’t stop thinking about that red-haired girl, and going to Lucy for psychiatric help. The musical is so true to the original cartoon strips, and it backs up the story with fantastic music.
The cast is small and tight—six (adult) Broadway actors playing the core characters of Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, Sally, and Snoopy. All of the actors are phenomenal, although three in particular stand out. The first is Kristin Chenoweth as Sally. Most people know her as the original Glinda in Wicked, but she’s even more endearing in this show. Her small stature and little-girl voice lend themselves very well to the youngest of the characters, and she sings the heck out of her star number, “My New Philosophy” (which was written specifically for the revival). Roger Bart (who originated the role of Carmen Ghia in The Producers and reprised the role for the 2005 film) absolutely steals the show as Snoopy. His show-stopping number “Suppertime” is hands-down the best track on the CD. And Anthony Rapp (best known for playing Mark in Rent) holds everything together perfectly in the title role of Charlie Brown.
The other three cast members are good, but nothing really special. Stanley Wayne Mathis is solid as Schroeder. Ilana Levine, as Lucy, has a tendency to shriek her lines instead of singing them. It’s a great acting choice, since Lucy is just that type of character, but it makes it really difficult to listen to her. And B.D. Wong makes a good Linus, but he lisps a bit too much, which can get annoying.
The wonderful thing about this recording is that it’s genuinely sweet without being cloying or irritating. No small feat, considering that it’s six adults playing children and singing songs with lyrics like, “Happiness is morning and evening; daytime and nighttime, too. For happiness is anyone and anything at all that’s loved by you.” That line is in the last song of the show (it’s called—surprise!—“Happiness”), and it could so easily be annoyingly sappy. But it’s not. It’s just simple and sweet, and it leaves you with a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling.
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown is a must for anyone who loves the Peanuts characters. More importantly, it’s a great CD to have around for a nice pick-me-up after a long day. It’s got wonderful music and outstanding performances, and it just makes you feel good. I highly recommend it.
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