honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, April 12, 2006

STAGE REVIEW
Winsome cast keeps musical ambling

By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Special to The Advertiser

Kimo Kaona as Linus, with Pomai Lopez as his sister Lucy, star in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," at Paliku Theatre.

Brad Goda

spacer spacer

'YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN'

Paliku Theatre, Windward Community College

7:30 p.m. Fridays and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through April 23

$19, $16 seniors and military, $9 children ages 3-12 and students

235-7433

spacer spacer

The word for "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown," the musical based on the "Peanuts" comic strip, is "winsome."

Based on a day in the life of the popular moon-faced anti-hero, the script opens with dialogue most unlikely to enshrine a central character, delivered by his little sister Sally.

"The only thing wrong with my big brother Charlie Brown is his lack of confidence.

"His inferiority and his lack of confidence.

"His clumsiness, his inferiority and his lack of confidence.

"His stupidity, his clumsiness, his inferiority and his lack of confidence."

You might love a character like that, but will you continue to love him through two acts, two hours and 14 songs? If you start checking the program at intermission to count how many numbers comprise Act 2, you might suspect "winsome" is starting to wear thin.

Of the music, only the finale number, "Happiness" — a collection of warm-puppy doggerel — has found life outside the show.

"Happiness is two kinds of ice cream ... and happiness is walking hand in hand."

"Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz parlayed four blocks of simple cartoon drawings and understated, ironic dialogue into the world's most widely syndicated comic strip. In the 1950s, Clark Gesner, Michael Mayer and Andrew Lippa satisfied the strip's passionate fans by expanding the four-panel format into a full-blown musical.

The show opened off-Broadway in 1967, moved to Broadway in 1971 and has continued to play around the world ever since. A 1999 Broadway revival earned four Tony nominations and won two.

An intimate show that would play best in a small setting, "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" gets a bit lost in the big Paliku Theatre.

Directed by Kris Fitzgerald, the cast does good work creating the cartoon characters they represent within confines that are clearly preset.

Kristopher De La Cruz is thoroughly likable as "that round-headed kid," Charlie Brown. Pomai Lopez is appropriately bossy as Lucy and Isaac Waters is the exuberant Snoopy. Kimo Kaona keeps a good grip on his blanket as Linus, Ernest Stevens convincingly plays the baby, baby grand piano as Schroeder, and Nataysha Echevarria is blissfully lacking in sensitivity as Sally.

The show charmingly ambles around its musical numbers and coy characterizations, but unless you're a passionate fan, this "winsome" Charlie Brown isn't likely to turn you into one and won't keep you fully involved.