You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

We’ve watched him on stage since he was knee-high to a grasshopper, at the tender age of nine-years-old. We’ve watched him grow and develop as a dancer and actor. Now he’s a force to be reckoned with. Not just because of his having produced, directed, and starred in the latest production at the John Hand Theatre with You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, or that he has the undaunted enthusiasm of a high school student, or that he has talent flowing out of the top of his head to fill any stage to the brim, but he also opened a door that we’ve watched time and time again wondering what could be done. The public school system across the country, always facing cutbacks immediately rolls to the arts. Superfluous, they think. Less vital than oh, say, sports. Programs for the arts are either slashed to the bone or cut entirely from the school curriculum. But the talented fireball Matt Gottlieb not only convinced Arapahoe High School to let him produce and direct Charlie Brown for a school project, but offered him credit for his work as well.

Back Left to Right: Alexander Englert, Laura Westover, Andrew Fischer, Melissa Benoist, Matt Gottlieb. Front Row: Justin Sands

Rules are made to be broken when rhyme and reason speak loudly. Generally, it seems writing a review after a show has closed can be likened to closing the barn door after the horse has long since disappeared. Especially when so many outstanding productions go unnoticed because there aren’t enough days in the week.

The circumstances with Charlie Brown screams exception. Not only because of powerhouse Matt, as producer, director, and actor, which is no small feat no matter how old one is. Kudos needs to be awarded to Arapahoe High for encouraging this project. It needs to be recognized because there is a way of cutting through the mindset that the arts are expendable.

You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, inspired by Charles Schultz, was adapted to the stage by Clark Gesner with additional dialogue by Michael Mayer and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippi.

Charlie Brown is nothing but sheer, total, unadulterated fun, and Gottlieb is so right. The warm, touching, magical production isn’t produced often enough.

Knowing that Gottlieb produced, directed, and starred, as Charlie Brown would be enough to give him a standing ovation. But this production wasn’t just any high school production. It was astonishingly well-done. It was the best high school production I have ever seen. It would behoove some of the small struggling theatre companies in the Denver area to invite this show to breathe artistic energy into their theatres for a longer run. It would also be a feather in the cap for the more substantial theatre companies to extend Gottlieb an invitation to showcase Charlie Brown.

On a relatively bare stage with a red Snoopy doghouse and five black boxes the beloved Charlie Brown characters embrace life.

The six actors nailed their characters to the wall in a burst of contagious energy.

In white pants and a black shirt, Justin Sands gave voice, expression and movement to Snoopy. His Suppertime dance exposed Sands’ talent with the dog dance done every day by skillions of eager suppertime dogs.

Tall, slender Alexander Englert hugging his blue blanket, thumb in his mouth, and slurred Linus’ words was a knockout in his “My Blanket And Me.”

Andrew Fisher portrayed the intellectual piano genius, Schroeder with the intellectual, piano genius mentality of the delectable little boy who manages to give Charlie Brown inspiration and comfort.

Melissa Benoist threw herself into the sharp tongued, head over heels in love with Schroeder, five cents a pop psychiatrist, Lucy. Laura Westover corralled Charlie Brown”s dingy but wise baby sister, Sally.

With Mary Gottlieb at the piano, Chris Gottlieb on the drums and Dave Shugart on the bass the night I was there, heart and soul poured into the familiar toe tapping delicious music filling the theatre to the brim.

And Charlie Brown? Gottlieb carved and sculpted a most believable little boy who never gets a valentine, who seems to always be walking south when everyone else walks north, who thinks everything under the sun is wrong with him. The truth is he’s a good man.

The same can be said for Matt Gottlieb, his cast, and his crew.