By Marilyn Jozwik
First Stage couldn’t have picked a better show to celebrate the holiday season than its presentation of Charles M. Schulz’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” The classic holiday show, based on the 1965 animated television special by Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson, with stage adaptation by Eric Schaeffer, features wonderfully engaging personnel led by Artistic Director Jeff Frank and Music Director/Pianist Paul Helm. The show is appropriate for children 4 and older.
First Stage’s two-cast show featured the Sparky cast of 11 youngsters for its opening performance on Nov. 20, as well as adult performer J.T. Backes as Snoopy. Backes will perform with both casts. The show centers around the lovable underdog Charlie Brown (Nolan Zellermayer) who has the blues, despite the merriment around him, due to the excessive commercialism of the holidays. “I know nobody likes me,” he groans. “Why do we need a whole season to emphasize it?”
Patty (Lucia Harris) and Lucy (Alice Rivera) are enchanted by the falling snow while Sally (Maura Kuhnen-Grooms) makes out her gift list in a scene from First Stage’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Photo by Paul Ruffolo
He finds purpose when Lucy (Alice Rivera) suggests he direct the Christmas pageant. Charlie takes on the challenge, but his young charges want only to frolic, ignoring his direction and putting him right back in his funk. It takes a tiny tree, the somber proclamation by Linus (King Z. Pollard) and the support of friends to help Charlie find joy.
The scenes in the show are short and kid-friendly, with lots of physical humor to keep a young audience roaring with laughter and dialed in to the action. You can tell just how engaged an audience is when the kids in it are answering the onstage questions and reacting to the performers!
Each brief scene is a charming, poignant or funny vignette – outdoor skaters, Pigpen (Benjamin Poindexter) and Charlie building a snowman and choosing a Christmas tree, youngsters tossing snowballs, Snoopy as the Red Baron fighting the enemy on his whirling doghouse, Lucy and her 5-cent psychiatric services and the heartwarming final scene of songs and friendship. Falling snow and simple, brightly colored props enhance the festive show.
The youngsters in the audience especially enjoyed the antics of Backes as Snoopy, who speaks not a word but creates lots of moods with a variety of amusing dog talk. The kids giggled and chortled at his hilarious attempts to open a folding chair and other missteps, which Backes played up wonderfully. Helms provided the perfect piano accompaniment, punctuating dialog and movement with well-placed notes and handling the familiar score with aplomb.
Snoopy (J.T. Backes) dances on the piano Schroeder (Thatcher Jacobs) is playing, much to the annoyance of Lucy (Alice Rivera).
The members of the young cast were all wonderful, romping on the layered set of a winter wonderland – including a little ice pond for the skaters -- with energy, joy and precision. Zellermayer as Charlie Brown was sincere and affable as he rallied his young charges to create a beautiful pageant befitting the season. Rivera infused her Lucy character with a bossy, self-assured attitude as the nemesis of Charlie Brown, who grudgingly begins to see him in a positive light.
Other performers in the Sparky cast are Thatcher Jacobs as Schroeder; Patrick Kanter as Shermy; Lucy Halpern as Violet; Maura Kuhnen-Grooms as Sally; Taylor Arnstein as Freida; Lucia Harris as Patty; and Sharon Chumlea as Skater.
Young performers in the Schulz Cast include Edward Owczarski as Charlie Brown; Ben Nowacek as Schroeder; William Swoboda as Linus; Collin Weise as Shermy; Layton Lal as Pig Pen; Ailie Snyder as Lucy; Abigial Montie as Violet; Lauren DeGroot as Sally; Reese Bell as Freida; Sydney McElroy as Patty; and Lauren Edwards as Skater.
If you go:
Who: First Stage
What: “A Charlie Brown Christmas”
When: Through Dec. 26
Where: The Marcus Center’s Todd Wehr Theater, 929 N. Water Street, Milwaukee
Info/Tickets: firststage.org; (414) 267-2961