My lovely wife and I had a date night last night, and attended Mandan High School’s production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” I didn’t know much about this little musical (apparently licensed from Tams-Witmark, Inc.), but I certainly appreciate how hard it must be to portray such iconic characters! I didn’t take my camera, since this was a date, thus the poor-quality cellphone shot of Snoopy above.

I’m a big Peanuts fan, with a collection of books and memorabilia going back longer than I’ve been alive. I think some of my oldest Peanuts books are from the mid-1960s. I’ve got the cartoons on DVD, the shirts, the toys, the books ABOUT the cartoons, and even a 35 year old Snoopy jack-in-the-box that my little brother got as a kid. Uncle PJ played with it in the 70s, and now my little PJ plays with it in the 00’s. Having said all that, someone like me could be very hard to please with a musical like this…or very easy.

At first I wondered what the play was trying to accomplish. It’s obvious that they do a lot of little interstitial “strips” plucked from the annals of Peanuts history. These are performed in series between the main musical performances. On the one hand, I think they were well done; however, on the other hand, I think one might have to be a true Peanuts fan to really appreciate them. Again, I think that’s part of the mixed blessing of portraying Peanuts characters on stage. I must say, however, that I had bonded with these kids a short while into the play.

If I had to highlight a performance, it would clearly be Nick Leingang as Snoopy. Nick had the unusual task of taking the world’s most popular dog and, while NOT wearing any sort of dog costume, walking us through some of our fondest insights into Snoopy and his fertile canine imagination. He did so with energy and flair, and the best compliment I can give is that I felt like I was watching Snoopy. Tough praise to earn from a devoted Peanuts fan of over thirty years! Judging by the energetic applause at the end of the “Suppertime” scene, I get the impression that other folks agreed.

Other bright performances in this play are Jonathan Wanner as Linus and Vanessa Stumpf as Lucy. Linus has always been my favorite Peanuts character, Lucy not so much, but I really liked the way each of these actors portrayed their character. Nice work!

You can catch this performance two more times this weekend: tonight at 7:30 and Sunday afternoon at 2:30. I recommend heading over and enjoying this performance. TIckets are $7 for adults. Get there early and get a good seat!