Changes to Charlie Brown??

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/19/10 at 10:13pm

I didn't get to see the You're a Good Man Charlie Brown revival.

I realize that Sally is now in it (is that simply a name change from Patty??)

What other changes were made? I'm a little in shock from what I'm hearing on my dd's cd! (She just auditioned for it locally.)

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/19/10 at 10:19pm

The book is almost entirely new from what I remember.

[PeteGonBway]

Posted: 7/19/10 at 11:06pm

Patty was changed to Charlie Brown's little sister Sally.

Two new original songs were added - "Beethoven Day" and "My New Philosphy"

The Opening was completely revamped, as well as most of the orchestrations.

I'd say about 75% of the book was rewritten as well.

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/19/10 at 11:18pm

Though both the old and new book are taken from actual Peanuts comics, there is a significant difference in tone between them, and the orchestrations match.

The original Charlie Brown focused mainly on the childlike innocence of the Peanuts Gang, and the orchestrations were in marches and music box walzes- all sort of shorthand for childhood, and very in keeping with the Off-Broadway style of its time with The Fantasticks and Carnival. The sixth Peanuts Gang member was Patty- not Peppermint Patty, but the generic-looking girl who hangs out with Lucy in the familiar TV specials. She had very little personality and was just sort of filling in.

The revival Charlie Brown showed the more arch, sophisticated and "adult" side of the Peanuts gang. The orchestrations were made a little more complex and modern, with a heavier jazz influence that replaced the simplicity of the original score. In addition, Patty was replaced with Charlie Brown's sister Sally, whose various foibles, quirks and delusions made her the dominant personality of the show, not Lucy.

There is no consensus on which version is actually the "better" one. Both are still frequently produced.

[byebyebaby12]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 1:13am

Honestly, I think the original opening is incredibly boring. And I am glad they picked it up.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 10:01am

The original had wit, charm, style, and sophistication. The original arrangements and orchestrations are like jewels. The underplaying and restraint are stunning.

The revival was overdone and faux in every way - faux-hip, faux-funny, faux-contemporary. The new song "Beethoven Day" was utterly pointless. "My New Philosophy" was so over the top it made Lucy's character redundant. It was like a bad (but expensive) summer camp production, re-envisioned by morons.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 10:17am

Isn't My New Philosophy sung by Sally (Chenowith)?

Some of the changes I've heard so far haven't been all that impressive. I'll reserve judgement for when I see it!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 10:17am

Yeah, I found most of Lippa's additions to the score (except My New Philosophy, which I do think is cute) to be inane and pointless.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 10:26am

Yes, mama, "My New Philosophy" is Sally's song, but (as noted above), as written, Lucy is the show's antagonistic driving force. The addition of Sally, and her feral new song, make the character of Lucy pointless.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 10:33am

Since we're on the subject, has anyone seen this animated version of YOU'RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN? It's from 1985, but as you can see it also features Sally. How does it differ from either production?

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 10:43am

It wouldn't have Lippa's songs.

And I think one of the reasons for the inclusion of Sally as the "antagonistic force" is that forty years ago, people felt a little sorrier for Charlie Brown than they do today. Lucy was funny, but she was the mean, bossy girl. With the gradual shift in cultural sensibilities, and the rise of "the diva," Lucy is no longer seen as a light antagonist by the masses, but, in a weird way, as a sort of flawed protagonist. Her aggressive and sarcastic domination of the tiny world she inhabits is cheered, rather than "awwed."

Why Sally, then? Peanuts has always been happening "just this morning." The kids age into being preteens and then freeze, so they all end up around the same age in whatever the "present day" is. Sally Brown, as the years went on, went from a baby to a naive young girl, and eventually evolved, years before it was a term, into a textbook "Ritalin child." By 1998, the original character "Patty" was an anachronism, since due to the television specials and the character Patty's disappearance from the comics, everyone would confuse her with Peppermint Patty. So, with the decision to bring in a secondary female character to offset Lucy's memetic ascendence into being a protagonist, the two obvious choices would be Peppermint Patty and Sally. Peppermint Patty is at odds with much of the material, as, unlike the rest of the Peanuts Gang, she is generally competent at life and sports but not bright and witty. Sally, therefore, joined the show's Peanuts Gang, while absorbing one crucial aspect of Peppermint Patty's characterization- that of being a phenomenally bad student. (Despite Sally eventually reaching the same age as Charlie Brown, the comics kept her as the younger sister for continuity, much like Linus and Lucy, so Sally was rarely seen in school, unlike Charlie Brown's classmates, Lucy and Peppermint Patty.)

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 10:46am

It's from 1985, but as you can see it also features Sally. How does it differ from either production?

It's a somewhat truncated version of the original stage version, with Sally stepping into the Patty role.

[Jon]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 11:59am

Lippa rearranged the music for every one of the old songs except "Shroeder", which he couldn't really change, since it uses Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata as its accompaniment.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 12:12pm

I've also seen a (probably illegal) production that dropped in songs from the "sequel" Snoopy.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 2:33pm

Thanks for all the info and insight.

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 2:37pm

Blacks and Asians!

[StageManager2]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 2:59pm

^^^
When I watched the 1999 Tony telecast and Kristin performed "My New Philosophy" I thought the black guy she was singing to was Franklin (the token black character from the strip/specials). At the time I didn't know anything about the show, but I grew up with the PEANUTS characters and just assumed. Well, fastforward nearly a decade later and I learned that he was supposed to be... Schroeder!?! Hahahahaha

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 4:05pm

Why can't Schroeder be played by an African American? (Just asking....there might be a very good reason.



BTW...my dd was cast as Snoopy.

[byebyebaby12]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 6:26pm

Mostly, because he is drawn as a white blonde kid.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 10:03pm

That wouldn't have bothered me at all then.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 7/20/10 at 10:30pm

I didn't say it bothered me. Just that I had grown up with these characters so to me Schroeder had always been a blond, white kid. And when I watched the Tony performance I naturally assumed that the black actor Sally was singing to must be Franklin, the only black character in PEANUTS. At the time I didn't know about colorblind casting, and since they made up Kristin to look exactly like her comic strip counterpart I figured they did accordingly with the rest of the parts. That's why I was surprised years later that the black actor was actually Schroeder.