You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Upstairs at the Gatehouse Review

Written by Eleanor

Disclaimer: gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review.

Based on the beloved characters of Charles M. Schulz, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown brings to life the Peanuts gang and invites us to join them as they try their best to make friends, sing songs, and grow up to be good people. This musical first opened in 1967, with its premiere in the West End in 1968. Before this current run at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, the most recent version in London was in 2011. Although I am not wholly familiar with the cartoons, I did grow up reading the comic strips and knew a few songs from the Broadway version, so I was excited to see the show in its entirety.

The whole soundtrack of this production (original music and lyrics by Clark Gesner, with additional music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa) was very enjoyable. It has a fun, upbeat and childlike quality with engaging and smart lyrics. This, paired with a musicality and choreography that I did not expect, made many of these musical numbers the highlights of the show. Act One’s ‘My Blanket and Me’ and Act Two’s ‘Little Known Facts’ are particularly strong, but there are no particularly weak songs in the score. Many of these numbers are also elevated by the excellent performances of the cast. Millie Robins as Sally Brown was just wonderful in the way she would stomp about the stage and argue with the audience. Equally, Jacob Cornish as Linus Van Pelt absolutely nailed his vocals and delivery which garnered some of the biggest reactions. It was the way that the group was able to embody these child-like personas that brought such warmth to their performances.

The staging of the show, although simple, was quite effective. The way the creative team alludes to the fact these characters were originally drawn, through the use of costume (designed by Holly Louise Chapman) and the set (designed by Ruby Boswell-Green), was a charming nod to the original medium. Although the set remained fairly static, some elements moved to give the impression of different spaces and small sections of the backdrop that could be changed. These were all fun touches. There were also some slightly more interactive staging elements that I didn’t expect, which came as a lovely surprise. In a show where music is so integral it was great to have the band on stage, although this did lead to some issues with volume; the band was so loud that, in some cases, it was difficult to hear the lyrics in faster paced songs.

But if the strength of this show lies in its soundtrack, its weakness lies in its story or lack thereof. Like a comic strip, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown is made up of a series of small scenes or sketches. Although some storylines carry across a series of scenes, such as Lucy (played wonderfully by Eleanor Fransch) trying to find out if she’s crabby or not, many of these do not have a wholly satisfying conclusion. At the beginning of the show, it’s set up that Charlie Brown (Jordan Broatch) is finding it difficult to talk to a little redheaded girl, but as the show concludes he never seemingly does so. This lack of a consistent thread in the plot really does the show a disservice. I also struggled in some cases to suspend my disbelief that some actors were as young as the characters they were playing. To believe you are watching a group of five-year-old can be difficult at times. It must be said that Oliver Sydney is superb as the lazy and mocking Snoopy, with all of his small asides and background jokes. The inclusion of his red baron persona garnered a welcome applause from the audience and his standout number of ‘Suppertime’ reeked of old Hollywood and I loved it. But this particularly anthropomorphised version of the character can take a little bit of getting used to. I also was surprised with the inclusion of the bit where he seemed very keen to bite someone!

I came away having had a wonderful evening at Upstairs at the Gatehouse. This show will likely be a welcome hit of nostalgia for any fans of the original material. Although You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown may not have sparked my imagination, I found the show incredibly endearing with a heartfelt message at its centre; the trials faced in childhood aren’t all too different to the difficulties faced by adults, but with good friends and a kind heart you can overcome any adversity (apart from giving up a security blanket, in Linus’ case!).

You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown is playing at Upstairs at the Gatehouse from the 14th December 2023 until the 14th January 2024.