‘You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown’ in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - The Vaudeville Theatre Company, Cebu’s newest musical theater group, will bring the familiar characters of the Peanuts gang to life on stage in an exciting new production featuring young Cebuano talents.

This youthful and vibrant cast offers an authenticity only possible from performers close in age to the characters they are portraying.

“You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown,” a Broadway musical based on the popular comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schultz, with book, music and lyrics by Clark Gesner will be staged on February 17-19 at SM City Cebu Cinema One.

Founded in 2016 by Penelop “Penny” Ong, a Cebuana theatre and performing arts enthusiast with over 15 years of experience in directing and teaching, Vaudeville seeks to include students and young professionals in the theatre arts, and to help them discover and develop their potential as artists.

The company also aims to create, build, and foster a community of artists with a passion for lifelong learning and a commitment to artistic excellence, pushing the limits of Cebuano theatre to where it has never gone before.

Ong briefly trained at Music Theater International, New York and at Cebu’s International Academy of Film and Television and has directed more than a dozen local and Broadway musicals and ballet shows, including Charles Dicken’s “Christmas Carol,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Mulan,” “Into The Woods,” “Dr. Seuss Seussical,” “Pinocchio” and “The Nutcracker.”

In this play, the adorable characters from Peanuts comes to life: bossy Lucy is hopelessly in love with piano prodigy Schroeder who doesn’t give her the time of day, perfectionist Sally is still mocking blanket-toting Linus, Snoopy is in the doghouse, and “blockhead,” himself, Charlie Brown, is in rare form.

“You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown” is choreographed by Vincent Paul Diez Gaton with musical direction by two-time Awit Award-winning songwriter Jude Gitamondoc.

Tickets to the show are available at the following Shakey’s branches: SM City Cebu, Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu IT Park at the Walk and at Robinson’s Cybergate.

You can also get your tickets at the Vaudeville Theatre Company Office located at the Ground Floor, Tango Plaza Bldg. (in front of Redemptorist Church), Queens Road, Cebu City. The office is open from Mondays to Fridays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. You may contact 0917-320-8330 for more details. (FREEMAN)