‘Peanuts’ comes alive in Merced

Playhouse Merced’s “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” gives the live-action treatment to the classic “Peanuts” characters for the first run of shows of 2016.

The show premiered Friday at the playhouse, 452 W. Main St., and is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The musical continues this month with several performances.

“You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” was written by Clark Gesner and John Gordon, who based the musical on Lucy, Linus, Snoopy and the other classic characters created by cartoonist Charles Schulz.

Charlie Brown can’t seem to win the heart of the Little Red-Haired Girl, nor can his friend Lucy sway piano-playing Schroeder. Meanwhile Snoopy and Linus daydream and the rest of the friends battle with kites, school, baseball and misunderstandings before finally coming to realize what makes them truly happy, according to the Broadway musical’s website.

Director Noelle D.W. Chandler said the musical combines Schulz’s humor with the energy of live theater.

“It’s not about a story and a storyline,” she said. “It’s told more like a comic-strip style, where you’re flipping a page every couple of minutes and seeing different vignettes, different three-panel skits.”

The local cast is made up of Stephen Mouillesseux, G.B. Blackmon III, Natalie Woodfield, Ron Daily, Laura Hopp and Chris Espinoza. The six-person cast of actors – all veterans of the Playhouse stage – is smaller than many of the troupe’s shows.

The music in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” is directed by Brad Reed and Alicia Bohlke.

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 5:04 PM with the headline "‘Peanuts’ comes alive in Merced."