You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

***You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown*** is a musical comedy consisting of songs with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner. It was the first stage musical based on the *Peanuts* comic strip by Charles M. Schulz. The first stage performance of *You're a Good Man Charlie Brown* was in 1967, it was revived on Broadway in 1999. It was adapted for television in 1973 and 1985 and has been performed numerous times by amateur companies.

## Performance history

Ten of Clark Gesner's songs for *You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown* were originally featured on a concept album.

The first stage performance of the musical took place Off-Broadway on March 12, 1967. It ran for one thousand five hundred and ninety-seven performances. The book was credited to John Gordon, although Clark Gesner said that "John Gordon" was not a real person but was instead a collective pen-name that covered himself, the cast and the production staff, all of them having contributed to the script.

*You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown* was revived on West End in 1968.

*You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown* was also revived on Broadway on June 1, 1971 at the John Golden Theater with an entirely new cast. However, it closed after only fifteen previews and thirty-two regular performances.

In addition to the Broadway production, the success of the off-Broadway production spawned nine United States touring companies, playing in such cities as Chicago; Los Angeles; Altoona; Washington, D.C.; and San Francisco. A 1970 U.S. tour lasted 202 performances on the road.

A second Broadway revival came in 1999. The character of Patty from the original 1967 performance was replaced by Sally Brown. New dialogue was added by Michael Mayer and additional songs and orchestration by Andrew Lippa. The 1999 Broadway revival was nominated for four Tony Awards, winning two.

*You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown* has been adapted for television twice, as a *Hallmark Hall of Fame* episode which first aired on NBC on February 3, 1973 and as an animated television special which was first shown on CBS on November 6, 1985. The character of Patty was replaced by Sally Brown in the 1985 animated cartoon, as in the later Broadway revival.

A US tour to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the *Peanuts* comic strip was planned for 2020, although it was later postponed.

## Songs (1967 off-Broadway / 1971 Original Broadway / West End / 1970 U.S. Tour)

### Act I

* "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" – Entire Company
* "Schroeder" – Lucy and Schroeder (to the tune of Beethoven's *Moonlight Sonata*)
* "Snoopy" – Snoopy, Charlie Brown
* "My Blanket and Me" – Linus
* "The Kite" – Charlie Brown
* "The Doctor Is In" – Lucy and Charlie Brown
* "The Book Report" – Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, and Schroeder

### Act II

* "The Red Baron" – Snoopy
* "T.E.A.M. (The Baseball Game)" – Entire company
* "Queen Lucy" – Lucy and Linus
* "Glee Club Rehearsal" – Entire company
* "Peanuts Potpourri" – Snoopy, Linus, and Schroeder
* "Little Known Facts" – Lucy, Linus, and Charlie Brown
* "Suppertime" – Snoopy and Charlie Brown
* "Happiness" – Entire company
* Bows – Company (includes a reprise of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown")

The Song "Glee Club Rehearsal" which is featured in Act II was not included in the original 1967 Off-Broadway cast recording.

## Songs (1999 Broadway revival / 2016 Off-Broadway revival / 1998 U.S. Tour)

### Act I

* "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" – Sung by the cast
* "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" (reprise) – Sung by Charlie Brown, Linus, and Sally (not included on the 1999 or 2016 albums).
* "Schroeder" – Sung by Lucy van Pelt (to the tune of Beethoven's *Moonlight Sonata*).
* "Snoopy" – Sung by Snoopy
* "My Blanket and Me" – Sung by Linus van Pelt with the rest of the cast.
* "Queen Lucy" – Spoken by Lucy and Linus (not included on the 1999 or 2016 albums).
* "The Kite" – Sung by Charlie Brown with optional background by the rest of the cast.
* "The Doctor Is In" – Sung by Lucy van Pelt and Charlie Brown.
* "Peanuts Potpourri" – Sally, Linus, Snoopy, Lucy, and Schroeder (not included on the 1999 or 2016 albums).
* "Beethoven Day" – Sung by Schroeder and the rest of the cast.
* "Rabbit Chasing" – Sung by Sally and Snoopy (not included on the 1999 or 2016 albums).
* "The Book Report" – Sung by the cast.

### Act II

* "The Red Baron" – Sung by Snoopy (not included on the 1999 album).
* "My New Philosophy" – Sung by Sally Brown and Schroeder
* "T-E-A-M (The Baseball Game)" – Sung by the cast.
* "Glee Club Rehearsal" – Sung by the cast.
* "Little Known Facts" – Sung by Lucy van Pelt, Linus van Pelt and Charlie Brown.
* "Suppertime" – Sung by Snoopy.
* "Happiness" – Sung by the cast.
* Bows – Sung by the cast. (includes a partial reprise of "Happiness," and "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown")

## Cast

### Concept album

* Charlie Brown – Orson Bean
* Lucy van Pelt – Barbara Minkus
* Linus van Pelt – Clark Gesner
* Snoopy – Bill Hinnant

### Original 1967 Off-Broadway production

* Charlie Brown – Gary Burghoff
* Lucy van Pelt – Reva Rose
* Linus van Pelt – Bob Balaban
* Schroeder – Skip Hinnant
* Patty – Karen Johnson
* Snoopy – Bill Hinnant

### West End production

* Charlie Brown – David Rhys-Anderson
* Lucy van Pelt – Boni Enten
* Linus van Pelt – Gene Kidwell
* Schroeder – Gene Scandur
* Patty – Courtney Lane
* Snoopy – Don Potter

### 1968 U.S. Tour

* Charlie Brown – Ken Kube
* Lucy van Pelt – Ann Gibbs
* Linus van Pelt – Joel Kimmel
* Schroeder – Jonathan Hadary
* Patty – Linda Sherwood
* Snoopy – T. D. Johnston

### 1969 U.S. Tour

* Charlie Brown – Alan Lofft
* Lucy van Pelt – Minnie Gaster
* Linus van Pelt – Derek McGrath
* Schroeder – Dennis Phillips
* Patty – Marylu Moyer
* Snoopy – Grant Cowan

### 1970 U.S. Tour

* Charlie Brown – Richard Whelan
* Lucy van Pelt – Cathy Wallace
* Linus van Pelt – Vic Vail
* Schroeder – Dennis Phillips
* Patty – Marylu Moyer
* Snoopy – Grant Cowan

### 1971 Broadway production

* Charlie Brown – Dean Stolber
* Lucy van Pelt – Liz O'Neal
* Linus van Pelt – Stephen Fenning
* Schroeder – Carter Cole
* Patty – Lee Wilson
* Snoopy – Grant Cowan
* Linus, Charlie Brown, Schroeder, and Snoopy (Understudy) – Jason Holt
* Patty and Lucy (Understudy) – Merry Flershem

### 1999 Broadway revival

* Charlie Brown – Anthony Rapp
* Lucy van Pelt – Ilana Levine
* Linus van Pelt – BD Wong
* Schroeder – Stanley Wayne Mathis
* Sally Brown – Kristin Chenoweth
* Snoopy – Roger Bart

### 2016 Off-Broadway revival

* Charlie Brown – Joshua Colley
* Lucy van Pelt – Mavis Simpson-Ernst
* Linus van Pelt – Jeremy T Villas
* Schroeder – Gregory Diaz
* Sally Brown – Milly Shapiro
* Snoopy – Aidan Gemme
* Charlie Brown/Snoopy Alternate – Graydon Peter Yosowitz

## External links

* *You're A Good Man Charlie Brown* on TV Tropes.