Civic Theatre’s Charlie Brown brings comic animation to life
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ALPENA -- Local thespian talent was on full display when the Alpena Civic Theatre opened its 2026-2027 season with the musical play; "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown", Oct. 22. The play will continue showing Oct. 29 - Nov.1.
The family-friendly play is a collection of Charles Schultz's newspaper comic strips and animated TV cartoon skits focusing on social and personal situations seen through the youthful eyes of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang.The play opens with members of the Peanuts gang giving their thoughts and opinions on Charlie Brown while he stands amongst them. As they start praising him by singing "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown," they are overwhelmed by a flash chorus mob descending from the audience onto the stage and bellowing out the song in sync with them. As quickly as the flash chorus mob appeared, it disappeared.
In addition to the Peanuts gang cast, director Jay Kettler injected a steroid into the play in the form of the flash chorus mob which amplified a number of musical numbers with the addition of 10 voices of all ages. Kettler also challenged the audience's imagination when the flash mob became actual stage props in the "Little-Known Facts" skit.
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The cast of Charlie Brown perform at the Alpena Civic Theatre.
Although there appeared to be no rhyme or reason, let alone a plot to the play, it's rapid-fire sequence of skits seem to meld together well-known newspaper comic strips and musical numbers from past TV acts.
The talented cast treated each skit as a separate and complete entity unrelated in any way to previous or future skits, and, in return, an immediate round of applause was received from the audience as if a distant memory of theirs kicked in.
Throughout the play, a very talented four-member orchestra hidden behind the scenes, kept the tempo upbeat and entertaining playing music by Clark Gesner. The cast's vocal talents and energy were showcased often however, a couple of highlights included Linus' song and dance rendition of "My Blanket and Me" played by Colin Hainstock, as well as Schroder's vocal prowess during "The Book Report" played by Aleck Degen and Snoopy's song and dance delivery of "Suppertime," played by Bryan Ghekiere, who performed with his adorable feathered-friend Woodstock, played by Callie Barber.
Charlie Brown is masterfully played by Morgan Suszek who is a carbon copy of the fictional character, from his facial expressions and voice, to his personality, to having the same barber. His portrayal of Charlie Brown in "The Baseball Game" and "The Doctor is In" with Lucy, the pretty Red Headed girl, and many other skits is priceless. No matter how hard he tried to succeed, he failed, yet he kept trying and truly gained the spotlight for his determination.
Another stand out was Lucy, flawlessly played by Olivia Martin. Her portrayal of Lucy as an overpowering crab in "Queen Lucy” and a know-it-all sister in "Little Known Facts," to her being humbled during a self-assessment poll were just a few examples of the many acting talents she exhibited during the play.
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The cast of Charlie Brown perform at the Alpena Civic Theatre.
Not to be outshined, Peppermint Patty, played by Nava Haus, had a number of interesting moments. Haus portrayed the pesky, gloating and sometimes scattered-brained character to the tee in the "Valentine Card" skit as well as during her hunt with Snoopy in the "Rabbit Chasing" skit, which was one of many skits that garnered Snoopy roaring applauses from the audience.
Skit after skit after skit, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang's acting talents took the audience down memory lane and helped relive those years gone by even if it was for only a couple hours.
In their closing scene, the Peanuts gang sat on the edge of the stage with their legs dangling down and sang the musical number "Happiness" and, of course, they were mysteriously joined by the flash chorus mob one last time.