It's More Fun in the World of Charlie Brown

All I need is one more try
Gotta get that kite to fly
And I'm not the kind of guy
Who gives up easily
             - Charlie Brown
                From the Broadway musical comedy "You're a good Man Charlie Brown"

February 11, 2012 at Ma Maison Greenbelt - I just came from opening night of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. Since last week the missus and the little girl has been egging me to buy tickets for us to watch. Honestly I've seen it before when I was younger (and about half a waistline smaller) via Repertory Phils' version with Raymond Lauchengco as Charlie Brown. Back then, I didn't really enjoyed the play. I mean I am a true Peanuts fan, I have the books and merchandise but my young mind can not appreciate these humans trying to be my beloved comics characters.  I basically enjoyed the cartoon special of the play much better which still included the songs from the musical.  But that was the old version, the one I saw in my youth was the 1967 off Broadway version.  I am glad that the one we saw is the 1999 Broadway revival version which includes the two great additional songs "My New Philosophy" and "Beethoven Day" where Kristin Chenoweth  had her Tony Award winning performance.

The play was very enjoyable both for somebody who have seen it before and for my daughter who is just beginning to appreciate Peanuts.  Never mind that the actor that played Charlie Brown - Robbie Guevara is already in his 40's (Charlie Brown really is a candidate for male pattern baldness anyway) but you have a stage full of talent right there that nobody can probably pull it off better with. Veterans like Franco Laurel (as Linus), Carla Guevara-Laforteza (Lucy), Sweet Plantado (Sally), Tonipet Gaba (Shroeder) and Lorenz Martinez (Snoopy).   Trivia: on the 1980's version by Repertory Phils, Snoopy was played by Bernardo Bernardo.

For me the revelation of the night is Tonipet Gaba - I have't seen him onstage prior to this play and I usually see him on TV doing children's shows like Art Angel, but boy can this guy sing!  I somehow notice though that the style and execution is a "faithful reproduction of the original' 1999 play (sorry, I have been watching too many Senate impeachment hearings.)  There are times that I close my eyes during the play and I can visualize Kristin Chenoweth performing there based on the videos I saw on Youtube.

But that didn't diminish the fact that this a good material to work on with great songs and overflowing with feel good moments particularly the song Happiness. Sounds familiar? Here's a few verses of the song to refresh your memory:

Happiness is morning and evening,

Daytime and night time too.

For happiness is anyone and anything at all

That’s loved by you.

Yes, it's that song.  it is probably the most famous of all Peanuts songs and has become a staple of kids audition pieces :)

I recommend for you to watch You're a Good Man Charlie Brown it runs every Saturday and Sunday until March 3 at the Carlos P Romulo Auditorium RCBC Plaza in Makati City.

Bring you kids they would love it, if you have none then bring the kid within you.