It’s hard to believe that You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown never originated as a musical. During the 1960s, American composer and songwriter, Clark Gesner, wrote songs based off of Charles Schulz Peanuts characters, but was unable to get permission from the United Features Syndicate to use the famous characters names in his songs. Gesner recorded a demo and sent it to Schulz, who gave him permission to record his songs in 1966. He was later encourage to turn his recordings into a musical and by February 1967, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown officially started rehearsals. The original broadway production did not even have a libretto, but instead was composed of small vignettes with musical numbers.
In March 1967, the musical premiered off broadway featuring featuring Gary Burghoff as Charlie Brown, Skip Hinnant as Schroeder, Reva Rose as Lucy, Bob Balaban as Linus, Karen Johnson as Patty (not Peppermint Patty), but a different Peanuts character, and Bill Hinnant as Snoopy. They gave over 1,500 performances and closed in February 1971. The production moved to broadway with a new cast and premiered on June 1, 1971 and closed on June 27, 1971, with only 15 previews and 32 performances.
The musical was adapted for a CBS TV prime time special in 1985.
The Broadway revival of You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown opened in February 1999, and contained new dialogue, songs, choreography and sets. Patty’s character was replaced with Sally Brown and the songs “My New Philosophy” and “Beethoven Day” were added. The cast featured Anthony Rapp as Charlie Brown, B.D. Wong as Linus, Ilana Levine as Lucy, and Stanley Wayne Mathis as Schroeder, Kristin Chenoweth as Sally, and Roger Bart as Snoopy, with both Chenoweth and Bart each winning the Tony award in the respective category. The show closed in June 1999 after 14 previews and 149 performances.
