An Introduction to Musical Theatre!

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Auditions are normally made up of two parts:  monologue and song in the genre of the particular musical.  The two most popular genres of Musical Theatre are drama or comedy.  

By attending this workshop (this particular one is geared toward comedy), each participant will learn one song and one monologue.  This will provide you the tools and skills to succeed during your auditions.  

The workshop is available to people of all ages, be you seven or seventy years of age!  The format will reflect a "Readers Theatre" approach:  minimalistic, sans costumes, scenery, blocking, props, costumes, et cetera.  The stage will just hold chairs and music stands, and the actors' focus will be forward, picking a 'spot' over the heads of the audience!  

Readers theater is a style of theater in which the actors present dramatic readings of narrative material without costumes, props, scenery, or special lighting. Actors use only scripts and vocal expression to help the audience understand the story. Readers theater is also known as "theater of the mind", "interpreters theater", and "story theater", and performances might be called "reading hours" or "play readings".

October 13th workshop - You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Revised version)

12-2 p.m. rehearsal

2:30 show

Famous 1967 musical with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner and (in a 1999 revision) Andrew Lippa. It is based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles Schultz  in his comic strip Peanuts. The musical has been a popular choice for  amateur theatre productions because of its small cast and simple staging.

Synopsis:

Act I

Charlie Brown stands alone as his friends give their various opinions of him ("Opening"). Today everyone is calling him a "good man". Charlie Brown is happy and hopeful as usual, but he nevertheless wonders if he really is what they say. He decides to find out how he can really become a good person ("You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown").

Alone one day, during lunch, Charlie Brown talks about his bad days. Then he notices the Little Red-Haired Girl and decides to go sit with her. However, he cannot find the courage to do so, and puts a paper bag over his head. It turns out it is Lucy and Sally, chatting together. They draw a dress on the paper bag, while Charlie Brown feels like he has no confidence ("You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" (reprise))

Lucy expresses her deep infatuation with Schroeder and asks him what he thinks of the idea of marriage. Schroeder is aware of her feelings, but remains aloof as he plays his piano. Lucy then exclaims: "My Aunt Marion was right. Never try to discuss marriage with a musician" ("Schroeder"). Sally is sad because her jump rope tangled up.

Snoopy is lying on top of his doghouse , relaxing vacantly and peacefully. He begins to daydream about being a wild jungle beast. In a few minutes, however, he is back to his peaceful state ("Snoopy"). Linus enters, holding his blanket and sucking his thumb. Lucy and Sally show up and mock him for this habit. Linus decides to abandon his blanket and move on, only to come running back to it in desperation. After the girls leave, Linus daydreams of a blanket fantasy where everyone can relax with their blankets ("My Blanket and Me"). Lucy later tells him that she would someday like to be a queen ("Queen Lucy"). However, Linus tells her that she can't and she threatens to punch him. Sally gets a C for her pathetic coat-hanger sculpture.

Charlie Brown appears, trying to get his unusually stubborn kite to soar in the air. Eventually, he succeeds in doing this, and he enjoys a few minutes of triumph before the notorious Kite-eating Tree  eats it up ("The Kite"). After this trauma, Charlie Brown tries to find the right way to give Lucy a Valentine’s Day card, but he ends up saying "Merry Christmas", making a fool out of himself. He later learns that no one sent him a card, whereas everyone else, including Snoopy, got several. He goes to see Lucy, who is at her psychiatrist booth. He tells her all the things he thinks of himself. Lucy then clears it up by saying that Charlie Brown is unique the way he is, then asks for the five cent price ("The Doctor Is In"). Later, Charlie Brown sees a happy Schroeder spreading the word of Beethoven’s  birthday and pulling together a celebration. He and company join Schroeder in the song of jubilation ("Beethoven Day").

The next morning, Sally wakes up Snoopy to go rabbit chasing, and they go into strange places, like the Sahara. At noon, Linus, Lucy, Schroeder, and Charlie Brown are working on their Peter Rabbit  book reports, each in their own way. Lucy is simply babbling to fit the 100-word requirement, Schroeder is doing a "comparison" between the book and Robin Hood, Linus is doing an overcomplicated psychological analysis, and Charlie Brown hasn't even started out of worry, while Sally and Snoopy continue to chase rabbits ("The Book Report").

Act II

Snoopy, in his World War I flying ace uniform climbs atop his doghouse. He goes through a scene, with him being a pilot searching for the Red Baron. In his imagination, he is defeated by the Red Baron and returns to the aerodrome in France ("The Red Baron").

Sally is clearly cross about a D her teacher gave her on her homework assignment. In response, she says, "Oh, yeah? That's what you think!" Schroeder hears and asks why Sally is telling him that. It quickly becomes Sally's new "philosophy", and she bursts into song about her philosophies. Schroeder, after failing to explain to her how philosophies work, leaves in bafflement while Sally continues ("My New Philosophy").

Charlie Brown returns, and, with his friends, plays the Little League Baseball Championship. After some mishaps, the team finally manages to make some progress. Charlie Brown steps up to the plate, and despite his valiant efforts, strikes out and loses the game. We learn that this was a flashback, and Charlie Brown expresses his deep sorrow to his pen pal ("T-E-A-M (The Baseball Game)"). After Schroeder tells her she is a very crabby person, Lucy takes a crabbiness survey of all her friends to determine her crabbiness: Charlie Brown gives a waffling answer, while Sally is more definitive. Upon asking Linus, he refuses to answer until she promises not to punch him; when he gives her a score of ninety-five, though, she punches him anyway. After tallying the score, she realizes that she, in reality, is really very crabby and becomes depressed. Linus cheers her up by reminding her she has a little brother who loves her, remarking as she sobs in his shoulder, "Every now and then I say the right thing!"

Determined not to let what happened at the championship bother him, Charlie Brown decides to join Schroeder's Glee Club and cheer up by singing "Home on the Range" with his friends. Unfortunately, a fight ensues between Lucy and Linus over a pencil. The fight spreads, and Charlie Brown decides to leave with his angry friends, leaving Schroeder and Snoopy the only ones singing ("Glee Club Rehearsal").

Later, Charlie Brown comes across Lucy teaching Linus about nature the way she views it, with "facts" such as bugs pulling the grass to make it grow or snow growing out of the ground in winter. Charlie Brown tries to correct her, but she retaliates with a false explanation, and Charlie Brown bangs his head against a tree in frustration ("Little Known Facts"). That evening, Snoopy complains that he hasn't been fed yet, and begins to overly complicate and dramatize the matter until Charlie Brown shows up with his dinner. Snoopy bursts into song about his craving for supper until Charlie Brown firmly tells him to eat his meal ("Suppertime").

That night, Charlie Brown is still sad that he has not discovered what it means to be a "good man", then he discovers a pencil which has been dropped by the Little Red-Haired Girl (his perennial crush). As he examines it, he discovers that "there are teeth-marks all over it...she nibbles her pencil...she's HUMAN!" With that realization, he concludes that today hasn't been so bad, after all, and he's done a lot of things that make him happy. As Charlie Brown expresses what makes him happy, everyone, touched by his love of life, begin to express what makes them happy as well ("Happiness"). Right then, he realizes being a "good man" means trying your best and making the most of the things you've been given in life. As his other friends leave the stage, Lucy turns to him and puts out her hand, making him shrink back. As he reaches out, she shakes his hand firmly, then tells him, "You're a good man, Charlie Brown."

A medley of "Happiness" and "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" is performed as the cast comes out for a final curtain call.

Musical Numbers:

Act I

• "Opening" – Company
• "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" – Company
• "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" (reprise) – Charlie Brown, Linus, and Sally
• "Schroeder" – Lucy (sung over Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”) 
• "Snoopy" – Snoopy
• "My Blanket and Me" – Linus and Company
• "Queen Lucy" – Lucy and Linus
• "The Kite" – Charlie Brown (optional company background)
• "The Doctor is In" (Dr. Lucy) – Lucy and Charlie Brown
• "Peanuts Potpourri" – Sally, Linus, Snoopy, Lucy, and Schroeder
• "Beethoven Day" – Schroeder and Company
• "Rabbit Chasing" - Sally and Snoopy
• "The Book Report" – Company

Act II

• "The Red Baron" – Snoopy
• "My New Philosophy" – Sally and Schroeder
• "T-E-A-M (The Baseball Game)" – Charlie Brown and Company
• "Glee Club Rehearsal" – Company (sung over "Home on the Range")
• "Little Known Facts" – Lucy with Linus and Charlie Brown
• "Suppertime" – Snoopy
• "Happiness" – Company
• Bows – Company (includes a partial reprise of "Happiness," and "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown")

Note: The three new songs added to the show ("Beethoven Day", "Rabbit Chasing", and "My New Philosophy") are by Andrew Lippa. "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown Reprise", "Queen Lucy", "Peanuts Potpourri", "Rabbit Chasing", and "The Red Baron" are not included in the 1999 revival Broadway cast recording.

Instrumentation:

We are planning to have the original Off-Broadway production‘s instrumentation was simply a piano (doubling on toy piano and nelodica), a bass, and percussion. It can be heard on the original cast recording.