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COD College Theater puts on 'Charlie Brown' musical Dec. 11

On Saturday, Dec. 11, College of DuPage College Theater presents the lighthearted musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," based on the comic strip "Peanuts" by Charles M. Schulz, at the McAninch Arts Center in Glen Ellyn.

Performances will be at 2 and 7 p.m. COD College Theater presents "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," at the Belushi Performance Hall on the college campus, 425 Fawell Blvd. Tickets are $16 or $14 for seniors, age 60 or older; youth, age 17 or younger, and veterans or military members. Online fees apply.

For tickets and more information, visit AtTheMAC.org or call (630) 942-4000. The box office is open noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, and one hour prior to performance.

"You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" is based on the comic strip "Peanuts" by Charles M. Schulz and features book, music and lyrics by Clark Gesner with additional dialogue by Michael Mayer and additional music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa. Connie Canaday Howard, who is chair of the COD Theater Department and Buffalo Theatre Ensemble managing artistic director, will direct the production.

Bossy Lucy is hopelessly in love with piano prodigy Schroeder who doesn't give her the time of day, perfectionist Sally is still mocking blanket-toting Linus, Snoopy is in the doghouse, and "blockhead," himself, Charlie Brown, is in gentle, insecure and lovable form. Brief vignettes span the months from Valentine's Day to Beethoven Day and from wild optimism to utter despair.

Together this group of friends explore life's great questions as they play baseball, struggle with homework, sing songs, swoon over their crushes and celebrate the joy of friendship.

"You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" premiered off-Broadway in 1967 and had its premiere in London's West End in 1968. It was featured as a television special in 1986 and had a national tour in 1998. The 1999 Broadway revival featured Kristin Chenoweth and Roger Bart in Tony Award-winning performances as Sally and Snoopy respectively.

"Peanuts" began as a comic strip in 1950 evolving into a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip. Penned by Charles M. Schulz the strip's original run extended through 2000, followed by reruns. At the time of Schulz's death in 2000, "Peanuts" ran in more than 2,600 newspapers, and had a readership of nearly 355 million in 75 countries.

The cast for the COD College Theater production hails from Aurora, Carol Stream, Naperville, West Chicago and Wheaton and features Jamie Foster (Sally Brown), Lucy LaPlaca (Lucy Van Pelt), Kailey Nelson (Snoopy), Chris Talia (Schroeder), Nikolai Sorokin (Charlie Brown) and Elmeka Elme (Linus Van Pelt).

The design team includes Connie Canaday Howard (director), Christopher Kriz (music direction), Kyle Donahue (choreography), Sabrina Zeidler (scenic and properties design), Kimberly G. Morris (costume, hair and makeup design), Jon Gantt and Elias Morales (lighting design) and Fisher Parsons (sound design). Stage Manager is Elizabeth Nahulak (2021 John Belushi Stage Management Scholarship recipient).

Offering an Associate in Arts degree, the COD College Theater Department, under the direction of department chair Connie Canaday Howard, offers a variety of courses including Acting I and II, Acting for the Camera, Audition, Dance Theatre I and II, Directing, Improvisation, Stage Combat - Armed and Unarmed, Stagecraft, Stage Management, Stage Movement, Stage Makeup, Technical Production, Theater Appreciation and Voice Acting. Support is made possible by a generous gift from the College of DuPage Foundation's Dr. Donald and Helen (Gum) Westlake Fund for Student Productions. For more information visit cod.edu/programs/theater.

The MAC Giving Tree is accepting food donations for the COD Fuel Pantry and books, candles, board games, socks/slippers and more for Metropolitan Family Services DuPage. Bring your donation items to the performance and leave your items under the holiday tree. Visit AtTheMAC.org for more details.

Schroeder, played by Chris Talia, leads the cast during rehearsal for College of DuPage College Theater's musical production "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." Courtesy of the MAC
Nikolai Sorokin, left, as Charlie Brown and Kailey Nelson as Snoopy perform in College of DuPage College Theater's production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" on Saturday, Dec. 11. Courtesy of the MAC
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