River Dell High School’s Drama Club puts on two shows every year, encouraging students and their families to watch and support the club. This year is no different, but there’s a twist: the show will be entirely student-run with the support of Mr. Herbeck, where River Dell’s Drama students will be directing, choreographing, and conducting from the start to the finish.
With careful consideration, the production of this spring will be the musical You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.
After the successful Beauty and the Beast in the fall, preparations for this show have started up again after the winter break. In early January, students were encouraged to audition for the lovable cast: Charlie Brown, Lucy Van Pelt, Sally Brown, Linus Van Pelt, Snoopy, and Schroeder.
The first round of auditions was blind singing, so that the judges would not see the actors. The auditions were held in the high school’s band room with senior Jerin Yoo, Drama Club president and co-director of the show; Mr. Herbeck, who will supervise production; and Mr. Wilson evaluating the students based on a point system with a rubric.
If receiving a “callback”, aka getting above a certain number of points, students would move on to the next round, which would be a monologue from the show. This step of the process was assessed by senior Zoe Ortiz, co-director of the show; senior Juwon Yi, the music director; and Yoo.
When asked about his thoughts on the auditioning process, senior Robert Cook, who played the Beast in “Beauty and the Beast”, shared that “I always remember that I practiced all that I could, and, no matter what happens, the effort that I put in matters, at least to myself”. Ortiz encourages students to continue to put themselves out there, as “It is truly a great outlet for showing your artistic side and seeing what you are capable of!”
The show dates have not been declared but be on the lookout for YAGMCB and support all of the participating members and their hard work!
From March 27th through March 29th, River Dell’s drama club will present the all student led musical, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown.
The musical is about Charlie Brown who is anxious and insecure and almost always gets things wrong, especially in flying a kite. The musical explores in fun and witty ways a day in his life with his adventurous friends from when he wakes up in the morning, eats lunch, to when he plays baseball and ultimately learns what happiness is about. The cast consists of six main characters: Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Sally, and Schroeder. All these quirky characters, whether they are spunky, sassy, or sympathetic, are played by an amazing cast of drama club students.
Seniors Bobby Cook and Ben Weinberg will play the iconic and anxious role of Charlie Brown. Both Seniors have been involved in the drama club since their freshman year, and see playing this loveable character as the culmination of their time here at River Dell.
“This character is special to me because while I have played lead roles before, I have never achieved the privilege of playing the main or titular character. I am extremely grateful to have been given this opportunity with Charlie Brown, and it is a great way to end my time with drama club,” explained Weinberg.
Gianna Pantano and Caroline Koenig will play the strong-willed, quick witted, and sassy role of Lucy.
Throughout the play, Lucy teases and needles Charlie Brown about what a failure he is, however, underneath it all, Lucy cares for and loves Charlie Brown as she shows with the final line of the play, which is, “You are a good man Charlie Brown.”
“I relate to Lucy in a way because she is kind of the aggressive older sister to her brother Linus, and it’s almost exactly how I act towards my brother. I get to channel my older sister energy into the character, really bringing it to life,” explained Koenig.
Pantano pointed out, “Lucy is such a fun character to play and unlike any character I’ve played before. She is a little girl who is rather bossy and loud, and since I’ve never played an actual child before, I’m really excited to tap into this new type of character and add it to my repertoire.”
The adorable and spunky role of Snoopy will be played by freshman Tommy Cook and sophomore Zach Moro. Snoopy is Charlie Brown’s trusted and loyal companion throughout the show, and demonstrates a wide range of dreams and understanding of the world for a dog.
“Snoopy is a special character to me mostly because of his unique personality. He’s really just a hungry and dramatic dog that tries to act as much like a human as possible,” explained Zach Moro, “My favorite part of this show would have to be the music. I really like the numbers and the wacky all-over-the-place kind of feel that some of the songs have.”
Cook, who will play Snoopy opposite his brother’s Charlie Brown, agreed with this statement and stated, “At points, he just wants his suppertime, at others he’s having a daydream about fighting in WW1 or being a jungle predator. He has so many levels to him.”
Linus, the intelligent younger brother of Lucy, will be played by Christian Yarar and Hunter Hart. At the same time that he is always sucking his thumb and walking around with his nostalgic blue blanket, Linus is also always the smartest, most intelligent, and philosophical out of the six leads.
“The most special thing to me about Linus is that he is so different in comparison to the other Charlie Brown characters. To me, Linus is the rational character that simply follows his own path. For the exact same reason, I am excited to be playing Linus because I see myself in him. Portraying different roles throughout different shows is always such a rewarding experience, but it’s especially exciting when you play a character than you can relate to,” explained Hunter.
Christian agreed with this point as he explained, “I love Linus. He is literally me but as a character. He is like an eight year old child who speaks like an educated adult, so I feel like Linus is exactly me. He is obnoxiously like me, so this is going to be one of my favorite roles.”
The energetic younger sister of Charlie Brown, Sally, will be played by Hailey Cardenas and Zoe Ortiz. Along with her best friend Lucy, Sally eggs on Charlie Brown, but really cares for him.
“What is special about Sally is that she is a bubbly, fun character. She brings excitement and although she is pretty distracted sometimes, she knows how to talk her way out of anything. I am so excited to play Sally because I believe this is going to be a fun and dynamic character to play! I love her personality, and I am excited to bring it out to the crowd,” explained Zoe.
Finally, the role of the prodigious Schroeder will be played by Paul Kim and Ted Erdos. Schroeder, while he may be unconventional with his deep love for Beethoven, brings humor and light to the stage.
“I’m honored to play Schroeder and he’s so special because he’s a pretty dramatic character in the cast and that’s why I’m excited to play him!” explained Paul.
Ted also pointed out, “I’m excited to play Schroeder because he has some interesting relationships with other characters (like Lucy) and I’m excited to see how they will develop throughout the production.”
Ensemble members include Scarlett Blackman, Abby Byrnes, Moira Harvey, Daniel Hwang, Sabrina Klein, and Sophie London.
Jerin Yoo is the student director of the show, and Zoe Ortiz is the assistant director. “Well, I have some experience directing and I have faith in our club to pull off a fantastic show. When Mr. Wilson suggested that it be student directed, as President and as someone with a bit of directing experience, I sort of felt like I had to step up,” explained Yoo.
Mr. Herbeck will act as the advisor of the show and will also help out with construction for the props every year.
The student choreographers include lead choreographers Sabrina Klein and Hailey Cardenas. The assistant choreographers include Emma Herbeck and Jessica Pomerantz. Juwon Yi is the musical director for the show.
“This is the most student run we’ve ever been, even the sets are being designed by students and I’m just proud and grateful of everyone for being so flexible and cooperative. We have a great group and super excited to see what we can do!”
Zack Rabinowitz, the co-leader of the sound and lighting club explained, “As co-head of lighting, I work alongside the other head of lighting, junior Fallon Grebla, on all things lighting oriented in River Dell’s auditorium. As a head of lighting, I see myself less as a head and more of as a teacher. This is due in part to my responsibility of teaching all other lighting members how to use the lighting equipment and how to effectively design and operate lights to compliment everything happening on stage.”
The drama club considers everyone to be part of one big family.
“My favorite part about drama club is the community that we have built. All of my best friends are in drama club, and it makes the musicals so much more enjoyable. The sense of community in this show is particularly strong due to it be largely student-organized; we’re all working together to help this show come to life,” stated Ben Weinberg.
Caroline Koenig added, “My favorite part of drama club in general is performing with the friends that I’ve made over the years. It’s just such a fun environment and I’ve made so many of my closest friends through drama club and musical theatre in general.”
Christian Yarar explained, “It gives me a sense of community that I don’t think many other places can.”
So, as part of the River Dell community, support this amazing family by coming to see the performances on March 27th, 28th, and 29th!
