Open Forum

I LOVE Charlie Brown. It is such a fun, upbeat show. The set doesn't have to be complicated. We did ours as if it were from the comic strip. Everything was colorful and had a roughly drawn border on it. Well known characters, fun songs, a couple good dance numbers. Plus, you can have a reasonably sized ensemble.

Not that I'm anti-Oklahoma, I just really love Charlie Brown. (:

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Heather Cribbs
Theatre Director
New Smyrna Beach High School
New Smyrna Beach, FL
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-14-2017 08:16
From: Sara Giambalvo
Subject: You're a Good Man Charlie Brown or Oklahoma?

I would like to decide between You're a Good Man Charlie Brown and Oklahoma for my small high school by next week possibly.  I have good male leads, in a small(440 kids) school with not particularly gifted dancers, not a huge budget, and I am doing it on my own.

Basically if you feel strongly about either please convince me either way.  I am horrible at making decisions.  I would like Oklahoma better, but I feel like it would be more work and I do not want to be in over my head.  I feel my audience may like Charlie better.

Thanks in advance!

It really depends on your audience and what you think you'll enjoy working more. Choreography can be simple for either show and both can be done on a shoestring budget if you get a little creative. I'd look at balancing what you think will appeal to your audience (aka ticket sales) and what you are personally more invested in. 

That being said I'm not a big fan of Charlie Brown. I do like the variety of characters and the depth they offer in Oklahoma. And also look at not only what you have in the way of actors now but what your future program looks like. If you have the males now to handle Oklahoma! I'd go with that and save Charlie Brown for a year when you are more female heavy. Just my 2 cents.  :)

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Shira Schwartz
Chandler Unified School District
Chandler AZ
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-14-2017 08:16
From: Sara Giambalvo
Subject: You're a Good Man Charlie Brown or Oklahoma?

I would like to decide between You're a Good Man Charlie Brown and Oklahoma for my small high school by next week possibly.  I have good male leads, in a small(440 kids) school with not particularly gifted dancers, not a huge budget, and I am doing it on my own.

Basically if you feel strongly about either please convince me either way.  I am horrible at making decisions.  I would like Oklahoma better, but I feel like it would be more work and I do not want to be in over my head.  I feel my audience may like Charlie better.

Thanks in advance!

I think you've answered your own question.

Oklahoma is a BIG show. Doing it on your own is incredibly ambitious. Plus you'll need a healthy budget, a decent sized ensemble and good dancers (hello, Dream Ballet.) I could go on and on....It does not sound like a good fit. 

Charlie Brown is fun and super manageable. Smaller ensemble (though you can make it as big as you want to), small budget, and totally doable on your own. It has a decent amount of props but nothing terrible - the piano is probably the biggest thing you really have to deal with. Plus it's a real audience pleaser. 

It seems like it should be an easy choice if you already know your limitations.

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Denise Johnson
Director/Choreographer
Greensboro Day School
AEA, SAG/AFTRA
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-14-2017 08:16
From: Sara Giambalvo
Subject: You're a Good Man Charlie Brown or Oklahoma?

I would like to decide between You're a Good Man Charlie Brown and Oklahoma for my small high school by next week possibly.  I have good male leads, in a small(440 kids) school with not particularly gifted dancers, not a huge budget, and I am doing it on my own.

Basically if you feel strongly about either please convince me either way.  I am horrible at making decisions.  I would like Oklahoma better, but I feel like it would be more work and I do not want to be in over my head.  I feel my audience may like Charlie better.

Thanks in advance!

We just closed Charlie Brown this past weekend. I Do like Charlie Brown, but I have mixed feelings about doing it in High Schools unless you purposefully teach it as doing childrens theater. Otherwise I feel its very juvenile.  We did the original version, which I also had issues with, but thats a different story. 

Our set was mixed, between simple set pieces of blocks, and the traditional dog house, piano, booth etc, and we used projections to help with the background, or scenes. We created different projection screens, 4 panels in the back to represent the comic strips panels, as four is the most common number, and then an opening scene where we projected the characters on the front, then revealed the actors behind it as they spoke their initial lines, and then a 3rd screen for the red baron scene. Everything flowed nicely. 

I don't know where you are, but I am not going to get rid of our main set pieces, dog house, booth etc, in case we can rent or sell them to someone else who is doing the show. I attached a not so great shot I took early in the process the set is definetly not in the right place lol I was working on projections and lighting. 

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Dan Mellitz
Technical Director
St Andrews School
Barrington, RI
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-14-2017 08:16
From: Sara Giambalvo
Subject: You're a Good Man Charlie Brown or Oklahoma?

I would like to decide between You're a Good Man Charlie Brown and Oklahoma for my small high school by next week possibly.  I have good male leads, in a small(440 kids) school with not particularly gifted dancers, not a huge budget, and I am doing it on my own.

Basically if you feel strongly about either please convince me either way.  I am horrible at making decisions.  I would like Oklahoma better, but I feel like it would be more work and I do not want to be in over my head.  I feel my audience may like Charlie better.

Thanks in advance!