It’s fairly well established that Charlie Brown is a blockhead. He has some pals and classmates but not really many close friends. He loves sports but can’t seem to kick a football and is no better at baseball. He was inept at directing the neighborhood Christmas play and his taste in holiday trees is not deeply appreciated. He struck out on Valentine’s Day and got a bag of rocks during trick or treating. But there is something about this guy that makes you want to give him a high five or hug.
He’s an optimist, he’s thoughtful, he’s phenomenally observant, and he is loyal. Charlie Brown (always first and last name, by the way, or Chuck if you’re Peppermint Patty) is an everyman wearing a yellow shirt with a wide black zigzag. He and his pals have come to represent how being a kid was very different way back when. Not long ago, childhood was a much simpler, and some might say a livelier, part of life. Without the prevalence of the internet and social media in young lives, children would go out and play for hours until the sun set.
Alameda High School’s production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown is a snapshot of those simpler times. The 1967 musical, based on the comic strip characters created by Charles M. Schulz, follows a day in the life of Charlie Brown and his friends, including moments of loneliness, childhood affections, and baseball. The production by the Alameda High School Drama Department, directed marvelously by Anneka Fagundes, is terrific. Go see it.
When you do go, you’re going to need to get over the fact that Ella Edgelow did not shave her head to play Charlie Brown, leaving those wisps of forehead hair he’s known for. But her performance is still wonderfully Charlie Brown. To borrow from Lucy, Edgelow is the most Charlie Brown Charlie Brown possible. She brings laughter when pining over a certain little red-haired girl (if you know, you know), and her ability to express Charlie Brown’s thoughts through facial expressions is delightful. She’s genuine, and the tent pole for her crew of actors—and my oh my what a crew!
Linus and Lucy Van Pelt (played by Adeline Smith and Adeline Wong, respectively) encapsulate the complex relationship between siblings very well and in a hilarious way, arguing one moment and defending each other the next. Ellery Kim is a magnificent Sally Brown, with an exceptional voice and an I-don’t-care attitude about her that is so distinctive of her character. Schroeder is played by Pepper Chai, who helps to create those priceless moments when her character is persistently badgered by Lucy. Karissa Pate plays a memorable Snoopy, impressing the crowd with her splendid dance break in the number “Suppertime.” They all sing (bravo Anna Joham) and dance (yay Rachel McCray Denton) wonderfully in number after number, in between the little vignettes that capture the tone of the four panel stories that once ran in over 2,600 newspapers all across the world.
The set is colorfully authentic (Jakob Wyrd, Webster Colcord, Melissa Claire), the costumes are vintage and vivid (Melissa Claire), and all of the tech and crew people do a great job of supporting the talents of those on stage.
This show, this time capsule of a world long before computers and cell phones, works as nostalgia for those who remember black-and-white television sets, who remember playing ball until dark, skating on ponds, and spending a lot of time on our own away from parents. But it also works right now as a brief way out of where we are, when many young people happily carry harmful devices in their back pockets and spend too much time alone in their rooms, and where the world is way too big and fast and sharp for most of us to truly comprehend. The kids from Peanuts are just neighborhood kids, growing up together, perfect in their imperfections. Maybe they are the influencers we need most of all right now.
There are three performances of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown Thursday through Saturday, April 2, 3, and 4, at 7 p.m., at the Frederick L. Chacon Little Theater, 2200 Central Avenue. Tickets are available online.
Gene Kahane is the founder of the Foodbank Players, a lifelong teacher, and former Poet Laureate for the City of Alameda. Reach him at [email protected]. His writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Gene-Kahane.
Ana Maria Rojas Munoz is a guest student writer from Alameda High School.
