Allow me to get a bit sentimental about my childhood for a moment: when I was in 6th grade, my middle school’s annual musical was “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” I still remember auditioning for the show with the song “Happiness” and having so much fun rehearsing and putting on the show. I’ve been in several musical performances since (in the last, ahem, 20+ years), but for some reason this show sticks in my mind as one of the best theatre experiences I ever had.
Somewhat-relatedly, Theo has been really getting into this series of books that were hand-me-downs from my husband:
My husband only had Volumes 1, 4 and 5 in his collection and Theo devoured them. I couldn’t find the others in our local library so had to order them off of Amazon. We got Volumes 2 and 3 and are collecting the “‘Cyclopedia” series also written by Charles M. Schulz. The reading level and illustrations are perfect for Theo, and he loves reading about these “non-fiction” (in his words) topics. My husband and I enjoy seeing what totally obsolete topics they discuss (the section on communication included the telegraph, radio and telephone… e-mail, SMS, and smartphones were years away).
Anyway, the combination of the two anecdotes above are the reason why I am inexplicably excited that the University of Utah’s Babcock Theatre is performing the musical next month. The production runs from June 11-21 and I promise that you and your kids will enjoy this show, even without all of the nostalgic baggage that I carry. The songs are charming and clever, the characters are familiar to fans of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the other Peanuts regulars, and, as always, I’m a big proponent of family-friendly theatre.
Adventures with Theo 