The Darien Arts Center’s (darienarts.org) community theatre group, DAC Stage is thrilled to announce the award-winning and family-friendly production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, opening on April 22 and running weekends through May 7.
The light-hearted show is a collection of short scenes and songs based on the Peanuts comic strip, originally created by Charles M. Schulz in 1967.
Part of the Darien Arts Center poster for the play
It was a Broadway hit, winning the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical, with Kristin Chenoweth winning a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
Peter Green directs the DAC’s delightful musical, with book, music and lyrics by Clark Gesner.
The whole ‘Peanuts’ gang appears in the DAC production: Lucy Van Pelt hopelessly in love with prodigy Schroeder, perfectionist Sally mocking blanket-toting Linus, Snoopy in his doghouse and the “blockhead” himself, Charlie Brown.
Representing an average day in the life of Charlie Brown, brief vignettes portray little moments from all of his days and span the months from Valentine’s Day to Beethoven Day, from a bright uncertain morning to a hopeful starlit evening.
Billy Shubeck as Schroeder, Matthew Casey as Charlie Brown, Jenifer Condon as Sally Brown, Melinda Zupaniotis as Lucy Van Pelt and Noam Ben Yakir as Linus Van Pelt.
Darien’s Jenifer Condon plays Sally Brown, Charlie Brown’s sister. She previously performed in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change at the DAC, was Annie Warbucks in Annie at Curtain Call and Jesus in Godspell at the Bijou Theatre.
Darien native and current Norwalk resident, Melinda Zupaniotis is cast as the ever-bossy Lucy Van Pelt. She has been seen in various roles at the DAC since 1989 and recent local theatre credits include: Next To Normal (Diana), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Magenta), and Nunsense (Robert Anne).
Stamford’s Billy Schubeck plays Schroeder and has enjoyed roles in The Wedding Singer, Spring Awakening, and Urinetown.
Milford native and Port Chester teacher Matthew Casey plays Charlie Brown. Casey has performed multiple times at Walt Disney World Theme Parks as well as on stage in A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Hairspray and The Blues Brothers.
Making their debuts at the Darien Arts Center, Westchester residents Chris Meindl and Noam Ben Yakir play Snoopy and Linus Van Pelt respectively.
Meindl has appeared in Anything Goes, The Rainmaker and Neil Simon’s Rumors and Ben Yakir has acted in And Then There Were None, The Taming of the Shrew and The Tempest.
Darien resident Dwayne Condon is musical director for the production.
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown is produced by arrangement with the Tams-Witmark Music Library. Eight performances will run in the DAC Weatherstone Studio on April 22, 23, 29, 30 and May 6 & 7 at 8 p.m. and April 24 and May 1 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students, and are available for purchase at darienarts.org.
For more information, call the DAC at (203) 655-8683. The DAC Weatherstone Studio is located at 2 Renshaw Road, Darien, CT 06820, behind Darien Town Hall.
Founded in 1975, the Darien Arts Center (DAC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing visual and performing arts programs and events for the community. The DAC offers educational programs in Dance, Visual Arts, Music & Theatre, as well as special events and live community theatre produced by DAC Stage.
Private donations, grants, tuition fees & ticket sales fund the DAC, which is located at 2 Renshaw Road, behind the Town Hall. For further information, call (203) 655-8683 or visit darienarts.org.