Meet the minds behind “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown”

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Lissandra Ferrante

Cast: "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown"

After months of hard work by the actors and backstage and set design crews, the musical “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown” was showcased on the evenings of Jan. 25 and 26.

The director, Tom Carroll, explained that what the audience sees is a long time in the making, beginning with the actors getting into character.

“We did a lot of character work and warm ups.” said Carroll. “The students had the opportunity to learn how the character walks, talks…little special things that the character does that makes them unique.”

At the same time as actors are working on their character development, they are reading through the script and memorizing their lines. Junior Mathew Salas, who played the lead role of Charlie Brown, and also starred in last year’s musical production, still finds it difficult to memorize lines.

“I think that the most challenging part was memorizing the lines and being able to work with people around you in difficult moments,” said Salas.

Despite months of rehearsals, many students experienced stage fright, which is feeling anxious about going out in front of an audience. Stage fright can happen even when performers are well-prepared and confident and many students have their own strategies to combat it.

“All you have to do is go on the stage and just know that you’re going to do well and that eventually, you don’t feel the nerves anymore, you just feel don’t feel that overwhelmed anymore,” said sophomore Kayanna Griffiths, who played Sally Brown. “It just happens and it’s fun.”

But for all of the time and effort that the actors spent rehearsing, the show could not have been a success without the equally dedicated students on the backstage and set design crews. Lara Joy Jusi, who performed in last year’s musical, “Little Shop of Horrors,” decided to skip the limelight this year and go backstage.

“Backstage has really opened my eyes, because I’ve always been the actor, so being backstage was like ‘Wow these people are working just as much as us people on stage.’ It’s cool to see,” said Jusi. “Honestly, it was a lot to maintain, but it was very enjoyable, I really liked it.”

Carroll, who admitted he was nervous at the outset because a lot of the performers and crew were new to musical theater was “overwhelmed with so much joy” about how great everything turned out.

“I thought that the students would rise to the occasion and I was very proud of them,” Carroll said.