The night of May 9th, the whole
school gathered in McEvoy Theater to witness New Hampton’s student-led production
of “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.” As the time approached, the house lights
gradually dimmed, and Mr. Sampson walked up to the stage. The second he began
speaking, the house lights went out. Unfortunately it was not planned, as six
towns around New Hampton experienced a blackout, but the whole community showed
support, using phone
light to light up the theater and supportive tweets to express their love
for the cast members and everyone who worked hard on the musical.
Luckily, curtains opened the following
night. The cast included Otto Lanzavecchia ‘14 as Charlie Brown, Jill Adams ’16
as Sally, Kes Baker ’14 as Lucy, Torre Davy ’17 as Linus, Adam Messinger ’16 as
Schroeder, and Ria Hardcastle ’16 as Snoopy. Director of Music Kyle Masterson was
the music director, and Meredith Brown served as technical director. The effort
of these members was apparent on stage, but what about backstage? With a short
interview with some of the cast, Paw Prints brings you the exclusive stories
and opinions from behind the scene.
Q1: Name one thing you think the audience
should be excited about?
Adam ’14: I think the audience will be
really excited to see a new take on the classic characters that most people
will recognize from their childhood.
Torre ’17: The audience should definitely
be excited about all the dancing that we do, because we can’t dance. It's
hilarious.
Ria ’16: Your face will hurt from smiling
the whole time! It's a Laugh Out Loud kind of play!
Kes ’14: I think the audience should be
excited to see our ridiculous dancing, but also the humor as portrayed by
characters that are four or five years old.
Q2: How do you feel about the musical as a
whole? What’s new? What could be improved?
Adam ’14: This year we are doing an actual
full-length musical, much different from last year’s Swag: The Musical and Zombie
Prom. It's longer, but it's worth it.
Torre ’17: I feel really good about the
musical. There's not much we could improve on because we're amazing already,
and it's going to be really corny and fun.
Ria ’16: We are coming along really steady.
What's new? Well the cast will be playing highly articulate kids and in
contrast to the maturity in the last play, it think it will be super different and
fun!
Kes ’14: I feel pretty good about the
musical. Rehearsals have been really fun and not overly crazy since the main
cast is only 6.
Q3: What are some highlights about the
musical?
Adam ’14: One of the highlights of the show
is the finale to the end of Act 1. It's a big song with a lot of overlapping
parts. It's really cool.
Torre ’17: We dance. A lot. There are also
some really relatable characters in there, and characters everybody knows, but
I think we really bring our own twist to the characters.
Ria ’16: The last number, happiness, is
ADORABLE!
Kes ’14: I think some highlights include
the silly songs and just the way that the characters interact with each other
throughout the show.
Q4: Name one interesting thing about your
character.
Adam ’14: My character has the best song in
the show.
Torre ’17: Linus is really smart, but he's
also maybe the youngest character, and he's kind of socially oblivious to the
fact that not everyone else understands as much as him, and at some points his
innocent honesty gets him in trouble.
Ria ’16: I'm a dog.
Kes ’14: Something interesting about Lucy.
Well, she is a very mean person and insults Charlie Brown in almost every
conversation they have. It's interesting playing a mean person who then helps
the person she is mean to. Lucy is not just crabby, but she has many different
sides to her, which is really cool.
Q5: If you could choose another character,
whom would you want to be?
Adam ’14: I want to be Snoopy so badly.
He's a pretty chill character, and he has the best songs.
Torre ’17: I would be Lucy because she gets
to sass everyone.
Ria ’16: Schroeder! He gets to waltz with a
blanket!
Kes ’14: Honestly, I wouldn't want to be another
character, but if I had to choose, probably Sally. Her song is awesome, and her
lines are funny!