Album Review- You're A Good Man Charlie Brown

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1999 Broadway Revival Cast)

09 March, 1999

Rating:

This music holds a very special place in my heart. Mainly because I spent a lot of time with it last year when I directed our high school production of the show. I must say that the cast assembled here for this recording are excellent!

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown was brought back to Broadway in 1999. Roger Bart as Snoopy, and Kristin Chenoweth as Sally Brown (replacing the character of Patty), received Tony awards for their performances. The musical was also nominated for, but did not receive, a Tony for best revival of a musical. New dialogue was provided by Michael Mayer and the additional songs, as well as new orchestration for several existing songs, were provided by Andrew Lippa.

1999 revival cast:

* Charlie Brown - Anthony Rapp
* Sally Brown - Kristin Chenoweth
* Lucy van Pelt - Ilana Levine
* Linus van Pelt - B.D. Wong
* Schroeder - Stanley Mathis
* Snoopy - Roger Bart

Favorite Songs:

"Beethoven Day"- Added for the revival production, this song is so much fun to listen to AND perform. My cast for the show really cranked on this song and executed the vocals and dance extremely well, ending with an explosive finale complete with confetti launchers!

"My New Philosophy"- Kristin Chenoweth is phenominal in this song! She plays the part well and the humor comes through even on the CD.

"Suppertime"- Another kickin' song! This one requires so much energy and coolness! Roger Bart cranks the vocals out so well, and still keeps that "doggy" growl in his voice.

"Happiness"- A very simple song, but a great one to show off smooth vocals. The cast gets one opportunity to just sing a song and make beautiful music. My cast always sang this song well! On our closing night, they brought me to tears as I watched them sing. It was a very sweet moment.

The orchestration on the CD is quite simple. In the actual live performances of the show, they added brass instruments, which puts a new twist on the music that I personally like better, but the CD is very well done none the less.

All together, this makes for a very nice listen.

Below is a video clip with the original cast performing at the Tony Awards. Enjoy! For pics from my production of the show, watch the slide show below!