NU’s Vibrant Colors Collective premieres multicultural production of ‘You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown’

The cast of “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” performs the closing number.

Sydney Gaw, Reporter

November 3, 2024

Vibrant Colors Collective premiered its retelling of “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” at Shanley Pavilion Friday for a two-day run.

VC2’s annual fall retelling slot exists to transform a well-known show that originally features a predominantly white cast into one that highlights people of color, Director and Communication junior Kate Horton said.

In this year’s production, Horton said she aimed to capture experiences with change and transition, which also reflect how new students acclimate to Northwestern each fall.

“Our production specifically focuses on (growing up) from the lens of being a person of color, both in terms of childhood and learning how to navigate friendship and mental health and transition,” Horton said.

“You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” is a series of vignettes and musical numbers that explore how Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts characters navigate the challenges of growing up. From dealing with the stress of a school assignment to confronting low self-esteem, the show delves into the complexities of childhood relationships and identity. The two-act musical featured 18 songs and 20 scenes written by Clark Gesner.

Horton said she wanted to explore how mental health conditions, like depression and anxiety, impact how young people navigate periods of transition.

She added that it was important for each cast member to bring their life experiences and identities to the production to make the original characters more nuanced.

“What’s so wonderful about this show is that it balances joy and community with the aspects of feeling alone and feeling depressed,” Horton said. “It’s a very colorful, vibrant show that also makes you think and that makes you feel for the characters.”

Horton said one of her main goals as the director was to make sure that audience members could see their identities reflected on stage. One of her creative changes to the show included adding an ensemble cast to expand the production’s range of representation.

When approaching the casting process, Horton said she aimed to feature actors of color with varying skin tones, body types and abilities.

She first saw the musical performed a decade ago at her predominantly white elementary school. Horton said she wanted to retell the classic story in a way that highlighted the cast’s racial and ethnic diversity, while portraying universally relatable themes.

Communication sophomore Tiger Lee, who plays Woodstock, said they found the show’s focus on interpersonal relationships and community to be central to VC2’s mission in highlighting people of color.

“It’s just a bunch of small, cute little stories of people and just a window into their life, which I think is beautiful,” Lee said.

They added that because most shows at NU highlight themes of oppression with people of color, this showing is different because the show isn’t “centered around our struggle.”

As a member of the ensemble cast, Lee said a key aspect of the production was its portrayal of community on and off stage. She added that the show was reflective of many college experiences, which added to the universal appeal of its scenes.

Communication sophomore Audrey Sy, who plays Lucy Van Pelt, said she enjoyed creating her own version of the character. Having grown up in the Philippines, Sy said the production was especially important to her in normalizing diversity through the everyday problems and experiences the Peanuts characters face.

“I always feel like when (people of color) actors are highlighted, it’s this grandiose thing,” Sy said. “I love that (Horton) chose to do it in a show that really highlights the pedestrian and mundane.”

Sy’s older sister, Alexa Sy, visited from Brooklyn, New York, to see her younger sister perform for the first time. She said she was impressed not only by the show’s choreography and professionalism but also by the fact that the production was entirely student-run.

Over the course of the show’s run, Horton said the production received overwhelmingly positive feedback from audience members.

“I think a lot of things that these 5, 6, 7, 8-year-olds are dealing with and thinking about and figuring out are still things that we as 18, 19, 20-year-olds are also navigating,” Horton said.

Email: [email protected]