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You're A Good Man Charlie Brown
Presented by: Melbourne Musicals
Venue: Cromwell Rd Theatre, South Yarra
Reviewer: Emmalee Bell
Date Reviewed: 5th June 2008
Melbourne Musical’s inaugural production, You’re A Good Man
Charlie Brown, masterfully walks the fine line between childish
and childlike to create a deceptively complex, yet charming piece of
theatre.
You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown,
is a musical about a day in the life of renowned comic strip
character, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. More than
just a bunch of adults playing kids, Charlie Brown is an
adult investigation of a child’s wide-eyed view of the world. The
kinds of challenges faced by the children in this show are not so
different than the ones we face as adults, including finding
acceptance, experiencing disillusionment and dealing with
self-doubt.
Director, Bryce Ives, along with Associate Director, James Cook make
a formidable team, crafting a production that puts the audience in
touch with their inner child. I won’t spoil the magic for those of
you who are yet to see the production, however expect to be
transported from the moment you enter the foyer!
Almost everyone is familiar with the strong personalities of the
Peanuts characters creating an extra challenge for both the
directors and the actors that portray them. While the
characterisations were a little slow coming through, I think this
was mostly to do with the structure of the production. The comic
strip style series of short scenes and monologues gave the actors
little opportunity to develop their characters. However by the
second act these reservations were gone and I was completely
enamoured with all of the characters, even the exceptionally
“crabby” Lucy.
James Cutler was adorable as Charlie Brown, alternately despairing
and hopeful and wonderfully understated in a character that is easy
to overplay. At the opposite end of that scale was Emma Caldwell
who’s Lucy was overplayed to great effect. Suffering from a
terrible case of “princess syndrome” she flits between simmering
anger disguised behind a saccharin smile to full-blown violent
out-bursts.
After playing a child in CLOC’s Blood Brothers last year,
Laura Burzacott was well rehearsed to play the delightful Sally.
Laura was probably the most convincing child in the cast, with her
wide-eyed look and seemingly spontaneous performance. Her rendition
of my favourite song from the show “My New Philosophy” did not
disappoint.
Matt Perfect and Richard Hughes gave strong and convincing
performances as Linus and Schroeder. While they didn’t exhibit the
same level of stage presence as the other actors, they hopefully
will have been observing the others and develop this further
throughout the run.
Darryn Gatt captured Snoopy’s dry wit and loveable charm, delivering
some of the shows funniest moments. One of the highlights of the
show for me was Darryn’s showmanship in the musical number
“Suppertime”. I was aware that Darren had a stunning voice, but was
pleasantly surprised to see that he can also dance up a storm. This
triumph however should be shared with Choreographer Jessica Barlow.
Her Choreography was tight, snappy and seamlessly integrated into
the action of the show – some of the best chore I have seen!
Being somewhat of a costume connoisseur, I was pleased to see
designer Shana Nerenberg had been very true to the Peanuts cartoon.
The costumes however seemed poorly fitted. While the intention may
have been to make the characters appear smaller and more child-like,
I think this was conveyed in other ways and the show would not have
been any less effective with well-fitted costumes.
The band led by the scarily talented Music Director, Adrian Portell
was tight and well-balanced. Adrian ably conducted the performers
from off-stage with no evidence of the time lag which can sometimes
happen when conducting via a monitor.
Melbourne Musicals should be commended for producing such a slick
and professional production with their first attempt. I can’t wait
to see what the company has in store for us next!
Emmalee’s passion for musical theatre developed in Warrnambool
where she was in 18 productions before her 21st
birthday. After moving to Perth to complete an Arts Management
degree at WAPPA, she performed in Les Miserables and the King and I
at the Regent Theatre. Since moving to Melbourne in 2005, Emmalee
performed in a concert production of Ragtime with Monash University
Choral Society, played the Bakers Wife in Into the Woods (MD
Productions), played Maria in The Sound of Music (Altona City
Theatre), went incognito as a pit singer in Cats (CLOC), played
Frauline Kost in Cabaret (ARC) and was in the Producers with
Whitehorse Musical Theatre.
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