Playwright: Michael L. Grace, Warren Lockhart and Arthur Whitelaw, after Charles M. Schulz. Score: Larry Grossman and Hal Hackady . At: The Journeymen at Berger Park Coach House, 6215 N. Sheridan. Phone: 773-857-5395; $10. Runs through: July 26
The Journeymen built its reputation on producing very grown-up plays starting in the 1990s—some featuring heavy gay content like Angels in America, Lillies and Edward II. So it's a bit odd this summer to see The Journeymen producing a kid-friendly show like Snoopy!!! The Musical.
It turns out that this production of Snoopy!!! is an outgrowth of The Journeymen's collaboration with the City of Chicago's After School Matters Program. The young cast and crew of Snoopy!!! are former participants of the program, and now performing through the After School Matters Internship Program.
So it makes sense that The Journeymen wouldn't do something too controversial with these young actors. Snoopy!!! definitely has its performance-related challenges, but it's not really a relatable show for teenagers to throw their passion and drive into ( even if they are closer in age to their characters than an adult cast would be ) .
Snoopy!!! is a sequel of sorts to the far superior You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, the first musical based upon Peanuts comic strip characters created by the late cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. This musical focusing largely on Charlie Brown's quirky beagle developed in the 1970s in San Francisco before it debuted off-Broadway in 1982 ( CBS-TV aired an animated version in 1988 ) .
Unfortunately, Snoopy!!! just doesn't seem to be as relevant today as when the Peanuts characters were at the height of their popularity in the 1970s and '80s.
Snoopy!!! is a plotless revue featuring mostly peppy songs by the lyricist Hal Hackady and composer Larry Grossman ( best known for his fascinating Harold Prince-directed Broadway flops like Grind and A Doll's Life ) . Schulz's comic strips inspire the book, which are a variety of short-attention-span vignettes leading up to an observational or play-on-words punch line.
The young cast members sing their songs well under Julian Chin's music direction, plus they bounce around well to Danny Bernardo's cartwheeling choreography ( both Jon Martinez as Snoopy and Juan Enrique Irizarry as the bird, Woodstock, were particular standouts in this department ) .
Where the cast stumbles is with the humor. Punch lines don't always land the needed laughs before blackouts, and the actors don't bring the requisite grown-up angst to the characters as worked into Schulz's newspaper strips or the animated TV specials.
There is also the issue of focus, since director Frank Pullen has staged Snoopy!!! rigidly in the round. It felt odd watching the actors sometimes directing their singing and tender acting moments to rows of empty seats on opening night.
At 80 minutes without an intermission, Journeymen's colorful Snoopy!!! should do well with a young crowd. But if you don't have any kids in tow, it's best to leave Snoopy!!! alone.
