Footlighters bring the magic of ‘Peanuts’ to the stage
Review
By David Cregan

Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip Peanuts is an American treasure, and the image of Charlie Brown on our television screens has become a holiday tradition. Footlighters Theatre in Berwyn is bringing to life all of the strip’s cherished characters in its production of You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.This musical, with book, music, and lyrics by Clark Gesner, began as a collection of songs before being adapted for the stage in 1967 as an off-Broadway production. It eventually made its way on to the Great White Way in 1971 and was again revived in 1991. The most recent production starred Kristin Chenoweth of Wicked fame as Charlie Brown’s baby sister Sally, winning her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress.

The play follows one day in the life of Charlie Brown, and even though he is preoccupied with his failures, his optimism wins out in the end as he recognizes how many things in his life make him happy.

The Footlighters do a delightful job bringing this nostalgic set of characters to life. The set, designed by Lesley Surruta, is beautiful and well crafted. Judy Pizzi’s direction is witty, and her choreography is hilarious in Snoopy’s big number “Suppertime.”

Ann Truong is hilarious and very playful as the goofy yet lovable Sally. Hugh Abbot brings the house down as Snoopy, and Erik Schembs has a terrific singing voice in the role of Schroeder.

Nicholas Bryan as Charlie Brown, Janet Abbot as Lucy and Greg Kasander as Linus round out a wonderful cast, who are clearly having as much fun as the audience is.

This is a great show for kids and adults. Children will love recognizing these beloved characters from TV, but there is plenty of good wit and humor to keep adults rolling in the aisle.