Mike: Hi this is Mike Clark and I am backstage with Mim Vanderlinden. We just finished a performance of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown at the Springfield Community Theatre. Thanks for talking with me.

Mim: Sure. Not a problem. I enjoy it.

Mike: Let’s learn a little about you before we talk about Charlie Brown. Where’s your musical training from?

Mim: My musical training. I’ve been playing the piano since I was 4. Actually this is the first, besides doing children’s theater, this is the first time I’ve music directed an adult show. I’m mainly a performer. I’ve done community theatre. I’ve done professional work. I got a WATCH nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Musical when I did Miss Hannigan at Aldersgate for Annie. I’ve worked with the Washington Savoyards which is a lyric opera company. Done a lot of dinner theater. I’ve worked down at the Lazy Susan Dinner Theater in Anything Goes. Black Coffee. Done a couple shows with them. But it was really fun to do this because it was just outside of my boundary. I get comfortable and then, “Ok, let’s try something different.” It was a big challenge though, quite honestly. I love them to death, but the gammit of ranges of ages is a little challenging from the musical standpoint.

Mike: Ok, I’m not a musical person. Tell me about that. My impression of Charlie Brown is it’s a pretty easy show, but me looking at the book made me realize this is tricky.

Mim: The music for me being the accompanist for them is extremely difficult. I’ve gotten awards for piano. I’ve gone to state competitions through college and stuff like that. But the score itself is very very hard. It’s also hard with my family circumstances, not being here as often as they would have liked. The cast ended up using the CD. They ended up using the off Broadway performance. It was the ’92 cast I think. They got used to hearing bells. They got used to hearing all these other oddities that a piano won’t give you. So then coming into it and trying to pull it all together was a little rough to start off with.

Mike: Would it have been much easier to have a more full orchestra or a complete orchestra?

Mim: They would have had an easier time. The cast would have, I’m sure of that. Because what happens is, is musically the big conductor score that I have, it incorporates all of the parts. The alto sax part, the percussion part, the flute part. All of it into the piano music. You look at some of the pages and it’s just black with notes. I had to edit out some stuff and the hard part about that was the stuff I edited out, might have been something that Snoopy was listening for, for a cue or Charlie Brown was waiting to hear this and a lot of it is superfulous. Getting that together was a little bit challenging.

Mike: How did the rehearsals work? We only came to a few of the early rehearsals where it was the whole group and then we kind of sat out when it was the individual ones. Then it was the big ones at the end. Tell us about the rehearsals in the middle.

Mim: The ones in the middle were primarily just pulling together, for me personally it was just all music. I came to see the early ones and they were, “Let’s sit around and learn music.” Then we got to the mid ones and it was, “OK let’s put the books down and learn the music.” Then it was: “Let’s fix it. Now let’s put the books down and let’s actually add some movement.” That was a challenge because they tend to forget a lot of the things. When they’re right by the piano, not a problem. They walk away from the piano and it’s like, “Did we not go over this?” It was a little challenging. Plus this space is not conducive. It is singing in a cave. Bottom line.

Mike: I was about to ask you about the facilities here at the church we’re at.

Mim: The sound bounces so that they’ve got to stop singing a beat ahead. Or else they fall behind on the next spot. That is singing in a cave.

Mike: What recommendations would you make to the next group that wants to do this show. Anything they should do or shouldn’t do or things they should know up front?

Mim: For doing this show, I would keep it small. I love the fact that it’s only six people. I know with a lot of groups that would probably be a turn off because in community theater a lot of ticket sales are friends. The more people you have, the more people you have coming to see the show. But it works much better as an ensemble piece if it’s a tight knit group of people. You can’t have a chorus and it would probably make a better sound. Although I love the cast that I have because their sound is phenominal for having six people. Then again the space also helps because they do echo the second they sing.

Mike: Do you have any recommendations for any other theater group that might want to do You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown? Musically.

Mim: I would say use a band. It’s helpful. It adds more body to the music underneath them. Never use canned music, although it’s in your contract so you really can’t. Doing You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Just remember to be a kid. Even musically it needs to sound like little kids singing it. Have fun. That’s the bottom line with this show. It is a fun show. It’s light hearted and has a moral at the end. You know you’ve done a good job when people leave and they’re just happy. Happiness is your last song so you hope that they get the message.

Mike: What was your favorite song in the show?

Mim: My favorite to play has to be Suppertime. Snoopy’s song in Act 2. Mainly because I am a huge huge Scott Joplin fan. That kept me playing the piano and ragtime and all the Vaudevillian sound. I love to play that one. Musically to listen to or to hear is Beethoven Day. I love the way the composer brought in themes of Beethoven. And even throughout all the scene change music, it’s phenomenal analyzing it. I tend to, me personally when I work, I analyze my music. So I know “I go into this chord structure and then then that chord structure. Then he’s going to change keys.” Looking at it from that standpoint is phenomenal of how things are. The motifs and the theme are just brought in throughout the entire show. Beethoven Day, not just this group of people, but I think it sounds the best. It’s just fun. How odd is it that I’m a musician and it’s about a musician. It’s great.

Mike: Is there anything else you’d like to share about the show or just anything in general?

Mim: I had a good time. It was fun. I hope to do this show again. I would actually like to perform. I would like to do this show.

Mike: So the loaded question is, who would you like to be in the show?

Mim: I think that’s actually a no brainer. I would like to do Snoopy. If they decide to cast a female. Generally it’s done by a male. So if that doesn’t happen then I’d like to do Sally. It’s a great part. They’re all great parts and this cast has done a phenomenal job with it.

Mike: Ok, well thank you very much for talking with me.

Mim: Thank you. I had fun. Thank you.

Mike: You’re welcome.

Mike: Hi this is Mike Clark and I am talking with Cody Boehm backstage after a matinee performance of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. She plays Sally. How are you doing?

Cody: I’m good.

Mike: So are you having a lot of fun with the part. Is it feeling good so far?

Cody: This is my first real role that I’ve ever had. What I mean by that is it is my first lead role that I’ve ever had. I’m having a lot of fun.

Mike: Is it different from what you were expecting or from your past experiences?

Cody: It wasn’t exactly how I expected it. It’s different from what I’ve done in the past and I’m having a lot of fun doing it.

Mike: So what’s different? The dancing or the singing or being on the stage by yourself so much?

Cody: Being on stage by myself so much and having the ability to have solos and stuff. I’ve never worked with such a talented, I have, but I mean it’s been a whirlwind basically.

Mike: Is this the smallest cast you’ve worked with?

Cody: Yes. I’m normally in big numbers on small stages.

Mike: So what do you think about Sally? Do you like her? Is she a stretch?

Cody: She’s me. That’s basically it. She’s me.

Mike: Do you have a big brother like Charlie Brown?

Cody: I have a bigger sister and a younger brother.

Mike: Did that make it easier to be Sally?

Cody: Yes, it did because it really helped me explain my character and stuff.

Mike: What kind of training have you done since you’ve been doing theatre for awhile. How did you get started?

Cody: I was eight years old and my Mom picked up the newspaper and said there were auditions for Evita at the VCT, Vienna Community Theatre and Gloria Dugan was directing it. So I said I didn’t think I wanted to go. My mom said do it for the experience. So I did it and I ended up getting cast in the first audition I ever went to. It was kind of fun because we got a lot of WATCH nominations and won a lot of WATCH awards and Ruby Griffith Awards and stuff. I’ve had voice coaching right now with Debra Benner. Before I had McCall Ferrell who is one of my really good friends. I’ve had eight years of dance training including jazz, modern, ballet. I’m recently on point shoes. I’ve done many other dances.

Mike: Wow. That’s everything. Do you want to keep doing theater and dance and things like that?

Cody: My goal in life is to go to NYU and be a Broadway actress.

Mike: So what show would you just love to be on on Broadway?

Cody: Personally I would love to be in Wicked as Elpheba because I have the proper voice for it and the right attitude.

Mike: What are your next plans after this?

Cody: I’m going to audition for Philadelphia Story at LTA (Little Theatre of Alexandria) for the part of Dinah.

Mike: What have you learned by doing Sally?

Cody: I’ve learned how to learn monologues quicker and easier. I’ve also learned how to learn lines very quickly.

Mike: That was something you weren’t expecting at all.

Cody: No. My biggest fear when I first got cast was that I wasn’t going to be able to learn my lines, songs and harmonies. I’m lucky that I learned how to do it all.

Mike: Do you have any tips for somebody whose trying to learn their part?

Cody: I guess, never give up. If you audition for something never lose hope in getting that part because you never know if you’re going to get it. If you end up getting it, just work really hard.

Mike: Thanks very much for talking with me. I appreciate it.

Cody: Thank you.

Mike: Hi, this is Mike with ShowBizRadio and I am backstage talking with Maria Benzie who is playing Snoopy at Springfield Community Theatre’s upcoming production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Thanks for talking with me.

Maria: Thanks for having me.

Mike: What is it like playing Snoopy in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown?

Maria: It is definitely a different role than I’ve ever played. I don’t think I’ve ever played a dog. I’ve played a butterfly before and a mouse in other children’s theater productions. The dog is definitely different and I enjoy it because it’s different than any other role in the show. All the other actors are playing people so I get to be kind of different.

Mike: How did you get the part? Did you try for Snoopy or were you trying for one of the other parts?

Maria: I did try for Snoopy actually. It was either Snoopy or Lucy I was interested in. I put down on the audition form that I was interested in Snoopy. I prepared a song that would reflect the characteristics they were looking for in that character. And they called me up and said we would like to offer you Snoopy. I was excited.

Mike: What kind of background do you have in musical theater? You’ve done a butterfly and some other creatures like that. Sounds like you’ve got a lot of experience back there.

Maria: I have a degree in Music Theater from Shanenndoah University. After I graduated from there I auditioned for Theatre IV out of Richmond, Virginia. I was in several children’s theater productions with music in them. The one with the butterfly and the mouse was Thumbelina. That was the first show that I was in. I got to play about four or five different characters. It was very exciting, very challenging for me as an actor to change quickly and to learn all those different roles.

Mike: I would think it would be tricky to change personalities from character to character in the same show.

Maria: Yeah, it’s a little tricky, but you just roll with it. You get used to it. I’m pretty good at that quick personality change kind of thing.

Mike: What’s the personality of Snoopy?

Maria: Snoopy is very multi-faceted. He can be happy. He’s primarily, he’s a pretty happy dog. He’s been around a little bit longer than the kids. He’s been kind of a cynic at times. I approached it from more of a grown up perspective than a child perspective. He can be happy. He can be depressing. He can be pretty insightful. He’s got lots of different personalities. I kind of approached him from a manic depressive point of view.

Mike: I kind of see that in the opening number when you’re talking about the round headed kid. Then you get that joy from Suppertime. That’s a totally fun number. Was that a hard one to learn and to work on?

Maria: That was hard. It only came together this past week with the choreography and the music and everything. That’s been an exciting piece to put together in the last week. It’s challenging me as an actor and a dancer. I’m primarily an actor/singer and a pretty good mover. It’s been a little challenging, but it’s been fun.

Mike: Do you prefer plays over musicals or musicals over plays?

Maria: I like the musicals because singing is probably my my strongest suit. I’m a pretty strong singer, but I’ve been doing theater longer. I’ve been doing theater since I was six or seven. I just started taking professional lessons when I was fifteen. I didn’t really think it would take off the way it did. You get the right teacher and it just comes pretty easily to me. It’s been very rewarding.

Mike: Do you have a dream role you would just love to do?

Maria: Oh, yes. My favorite show is Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim. I would love to play Mrs. Lovett or Lucy, aka The Beggar Lady or just be in the chorus of that show. I absolutely love that show. It’s so dark. I love gothic shows, dark shows like that.

Mike: I think Spencer said the same thing. He wants to be in Sweeney Todd.

Maria: We were talking about that the other day. We’re probably going to go audition for it if it comes round anytime soon.

Mike: Is there anything you’d like to share with people who might come to see Charlie Brown?

Maria: I think the biggest advice I can give to an audience is just have fun. You don’t have to just sit there and not say anything. In fact in a fun production like this the actors, well maybe not for all actors, but for myself, I love it when people exclaim. You don’t want to distract the actors too much. But when they’re getting into the spirit and they exclaim things like, “Oh my gosh. That’s so cute!” And they clap. Clap away. We love applause. We feed off of that energy from the audience. It’s going to be great to have an audience in there.

Mike: You’ve got one more rehearsal and then you’re opening tomorrow. Does it feel like it’s gone by really quickly at the rehearsal time?

Maria: We only had about five or six weeks from the audition date to put this whole thing together. I’m so glad we have such a talented cast of actors because it’s made the whole process a lot easier. We’ve got Lucy and Sally. They’re only twelve years old. I can’t believe how well they’re doing. When I was twelve I couldn’t do that well. They’re really talented girls and I think they’re going to do really well in this piece.

Mike: Thanks very much for talking with me today.

Maria: Alright, thank you.

Mike: Hi this is Mike Clark with ShowBizRadio. I am literally backstage with Keith Miller, who plays Charlie Brown in Springfield Community Theatre’s production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Thanks for talking with me Keith.

Keith: Hi.

Mike: Tell me, is Charlie Brown at all like you? Or is this a total stretch?

Keith: Well, I think there are little pieces of Charlie Brown in everybody. Everybody every once in a while feels a little bit clumsier than they would like to, or a little bit less popular, or whatever than they’d like to be. So I think, if you reach deep inside you, you can find Charlie Brown in you no matter who you are.

Mike: Did you try for Charlie Brown or did you try for some other role?

Keith: I tried for Charlie Brown because I actually played Charlie Brown my first role in college. There’s a sequel to this show called Snoopy!!! (with three exclamation points, that makes it more exciting) and in that show I played Charlie Brown my freshman year in college so I thought it would be really cool to play Charlie Brown in this show. So I came out for it.

Mike: Are you getting typecast as Charlie Brown?

Keith: No, it’s been a long time since my freshman year in college. I’ve had lots of shows in between.

Mike: Did you study theater or was it just a hobby in college?

Keith: I majored in theater, and I also majored in French, because I thought my parents would freak out if I just majored in theater. And French is just so much more practical.

Mike: I’m sure you use that every day right?

Keith: Actually, I do. Now I’m a computational linguist. I graduated from just doing French to doing linguistics in general in grad school. That’s what I do daily.

Mike: So does theater in general help you with that or is it just an aside?

Keith: I think linguistics probably helps me more with theater than theater helps me with linguistics. On a daily basis I find myself doing a lot of presentations and stuff. If I’m not afraid to get up and act like a six year old in a room full of people in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, I’m not afraid to get up in front of executives or whoever and present on a topic that I know I really know well like computational linguistics. I guess a performance background sort of helps me there. Briefings and stuff.

Mike: Have you found it hard to become a six year old for Charlie Brown?

Keith: You can ask my family about that. I think some people might tell you that there’s more six year old in me than there probably should be at my age. It’s fun. They built a set for us with monkey bars and things to play on. Who doesn’t want to play on monkey bars? Who doesn’t want to play on the swings and be able to stick their tongues out at people when they make them mad and things like that. Again, which is like Charlie Brown, I think there’s a six year old inside of everybody too, it’s just that some people hide it. Some people try to bury is a lot more than other people do.

Mike: I’ve definitely noticed everybody getting more comfortable on stage now that there’s actual stuff to play with.

Keith: It really helps. Other than saying, “Imagine there are monkey bars. Picture if you will some monkey bars. What would you do if there were monkey bars here?” It’s kind of hard to suspend yourself in mid air and swing on things that aren’t there.

Mike: Do you have a younger sister or is Sally a new experience?

Keith: Sally is a new experience. I have a younger brother. He’s not that much younger than me. He’s only three years younger than me. We’ve both been grown up for awhile so I don’t have sister as young as Sally. I’ve never had a sister at all or a sister as young as Sally at all.

Mike: Have you and Cody as Sally gotten close. Are you brother-sistery?

Keith: I’m probably old enough to be at least her father if not her, no not her grandfather. I am certainly old enough to be her father, but she’s a great kid. She’s pretty mature for her age and we’re getting along pretty well. I think the cast as a whole is getting along pretty well. We have a real mix of ages in the cast. I think Don talked about that.

It’s been interesting working with the two younger cast members, the two girls. The guys are all older. It’s been good. It’s been kind of nice in a way working with both Lexi and Cody, the two young girls because you can see the thought process as they’re learning the stuff and as their picking the stuff up from the older cast members. They’re both pretty experienced in their own rights, but just sort of the life type of things. You can see things click in their heads every once in a while. That’s really interesting.

Mike: Do you see yourself continuing doing theater on into the future as a hobby or do you want to do it professionally?

Keith: I quit doing theater for about ten years while I was in grad school. I was doing some semi professional/professional stuff at that time. I always promised myself that I would get back into doing theater and I finally did after taking ten years off. I got back into theater two, threeish, fourish years ago. I’ve only been doing community stuff since then. I’ve been thinking lately, “Hey why not try to get into the more professional stuff?” We’ll see what happens next. The opportunities are always surprising when they come up. We’ll see what happens.

Mike: What about the dancing? Has that been hard or has that been pretty straightforward for you?

Keith: It’s been pretty easy in this show. This isn’t really what you’d call a dance show. It isn’t Cats. A lot of actors that do musical theater have taken dance classes or whatever. Then there’s a large subsection of actors who feel like they don’t dance. They’re not dancers. I’m sort of somewhere in between the two.

I took some dance classes in college because I was studying theater and musical theater. When I started to get back into theater again a couple years ago, I started doing a lot of musicals. I actually ended up in a dance company for about two and a half to three years. After one of the musicals I ended up going up and training with a classical east Indian dance company for three years and performing with them. That gave me a lot of dance experience that I didn’t have before. It was like starting to learn ballet. Starting at base level and learning in classical form. That really helped me, not only with dance. It helped me with dance a lot because the rhythms are very intricate in that dance form and the body positions and everything is very exact.

It also helped me with my stage movement in general. I mean, the Charlie Brown stuff they do. This past Summer I played Cinderella’s Prince and the Wolf in Into The Woods. It really helped me with the Wolf’s body language and the Wolf’s moves and the preciseness of that. The dancing in this show isn’t really challenging. It’s fun. But it’s not tough to do or anything.

Mike: Ok, well thanks very much for talking with me. I appreciate it.

Keith: Sure.

Mike: Hi, this is Mike with ShowBizRadio and I am backstage with Elaine Topodas. She’s the choreographer for Springfield Community Theatre’s You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Thanks for talking with me, Elaine.

Elaine: Thank you for having me.

Mike: So an easy question: what does a choreographer do?

Elaine: The choreographer, in my opinion, his or her job is to what I call embody the director’s vision for the show. And literally to put what he sees in the show and give it form in terms of movement.

Mike: So is it more than just the blocking? Which is all that I’m familiar with since I’m most familiar with plays.

Elaine: What it takes in addition to things like blocking it, it takes the expansion of gestural movements which you will use in your acting. Then putting it in time with the music. Allowing actors to be able to perform and do movement and still sing. Hopefully the choreography will allow to be choreographed with the breath and the breathing so your singers look much more and feel much more natural in the movement that they’re doing.

Mike: How do you learn to choreograph? Do you have to be a dancer first? Is it broader than it is just dance? How do you learn that skill?

Elaine: Many choreographers were dancers first. I’ve danced my entire life. I started dancing when I was seven. I was one of the lucky ones however. I started with creative dance and Eurhythmics. From there my training became modern dance rather than ballet. Modern dance is a much more natural movement vocabulary. It is very much related to gravity and the use of gravity. It’s much more accessible to people who don’t have extensive dance training.

Mike: What do you mean by vocabulary? Or dance vocabulary?

Elaine: When you take a ballet class there are a whole bunch of steps that you learn and they all have french names because it comes out of the early French court dances. It’s a vocabulary just like words are that you can put together to make movement sentences. The vocabulary that you use. The kinds of words, the kinds of movements you use from modern dance are much more akin to what we use in everyday movement and then they’re stylized. So if a song asks for a soft shoe number, I may not do certain steps. What I’m trying to get the actors to do is to move in the style of a soft shoe.

Mike: Ok, that makes sense. You kind of have to figure out what the director wants and then you have to figure out what the performer knows how to do or is able to learn to do. You have to merge those together.

Elaine: That’s my work style. Not all choreographers do that, but that’s what I give to a director, I think. It’s the flexibility to get choreography that fits with what the director wants and what his actors can give him.

Mike: So did Don give really specific things like I want soft shoe and then I want tap or anything? Or did he just say, I want this.

Elaine: He did give specifics. There was a march number. That has to be marched. He wanted a soft shoe number and to the extent that the actor can deliver, we put it in. Some of it is much more open to interpretation, like Beethoven Day. That, too has a requisite style of movement, but I had more freedom there. The New Philosophy was very much a Charleston style of movement. Even if it’s not particularly a Charleston that the soloist is performing, she’s very much in that style because of the music and because of the movement.

Mike: Is it hard teaching people who don’t have dance skills how to do these basic, are these considered basic steps or are these considered advanced or what are these?

Elaine: I would say it’s more basic. I don’t do advanced choreography because most people in community theater don’t have the mastery of the basic skills of dance. Of alignment. Of knowing how to do some basic steps. So you’re working with untutored people so the easiest way to get them to look like their dancing is to take their movement and show them how to make it into a dance movement. I have sort of a reputation in community theater of being a choreographer for non dancers. I taught ages three to adult. Since I moved here to Virginia in the last ten years I stopped teaching. In my home state of Connecticut I taught creative dance for many years and modern dance. So that’s my background and the directors I’ve worked with have liked the fact that I can tune into what they want and go from wherever the actors are. Instead of trying to straight jacket them into all these dance steps that they just don’t have under their belts.

Mike: Do you have to have a trust relationship with the performer?

Elaine: Absolutely.

Mike: How do you build that? I mean I saw the first bunch of rehearsals where you just kind of sat there and absorbed, it seemed to me, from the performer?

Elaine: Very much. I prefer to see how they’re developing their character. How they create the movement of the character. Every time an actor creates a character, there’s a whole style of movement that they begin to build. I hope to take it from there. And when they do warm ups they begin to see, “Oh, gee, I can do this stuff.” When it comes to creating the choreography for their particular dances, they already know, “Gee I can already do this much. Whatever else Elaine gives me I can probably do, too.” That’s how I build. I try to listen to the actors, listen to the director. And then find my way into getting them to learn the choreography. Once I’ve taught it and you may have noticed this in rehearsals, but several of the characters have substituted movements of their own because that was easier. What they have done is taken possession of their choreography. For me that’s what I like most.

Mike: Have any of the parts been really challenging to figure out how to make a dance integrate with the music?

Elaine: Yes. The one that has been the greatest challenge for me has been Linus. The musical styles in the parts where he’s really not singing are not easy rhythmically. Stylistically they do seem to cry out for a very distinct style movement. The actor isn’t terribly comfortable with that. My job becomes finding a way of getting him to be able to move in a way that makes sense with the movement and to the extent that he’s comfortable. It’s tough. It’s one of the tougher songs in the show. You can’t count it easily: one two three four one two three four. It’s very syncopated. So I ended up counting it in the way that you hear it.

Mike: You mentioned a few minutes ago that you were going to Switzerland?

Elaine: I am. My son is the athletic director at the American school in Switzerland. He had mentioned to the drama teacher that his mother does choreography. She asked if I would be available to choreograph Oklahoma. I did that last spring. This Spring I’m choreography Kiss Me Kate.

Mike: Oh, wow. Very exciting.

Elaine: It is. It’s fun.

Mike: What age performers out there?

Elaine: These are high school students.

Mike: Ok. Is it easier to have students that are all roughly the same age versus Charlie Brown where there’s such a wide range?

Elaine: Yes. I want to say yes and no. One of the twelve year olds has a good amount of dance training. In some ways she’s just as easy to work with, if not easier to work with than the adults. My observation is that teenagers however, tend to do what they think they see instead of what you’re actually doing. Whereas an adult pays much more attention to the details and to exactly what you’re doing. I think that is the biggest difference is where they are temperamentally.

Mike: I would think if I were being asked to do some of the dance stuff, I would feel very self conscious. I don’t feel that way when I do acting. The position of my body would make me feel odd, I think. Is that a common problem?

Elaine: It is. One of the things I try to do with the actor is. I have a masters degree in Movement and Dance from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. I did a lot of acting studies as well as movement studies of the techniques I’ve learned that comes home to Stanislavsky and Chakovsky and Chekov is really building character through the body. It’s a bit of a science developed by these men. I’m not doing anything, but trying to transfer to actors who aren’t comfortable, a way to be more comfortable in their bodies. And seeing that even when they don’t know they’re doing it, they really are acting with their body. You don’t convince me that you’re angry unless there’s the requisite tension in your body. I just bring it up to a much more conscious level. Then you say, “Oh, gee, I’m already doing it. Then I can do this much more.”

Mike: That’s fascinating.

Elaine: Does that make sense?

Mike: Yeah. Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?

Elaine: It’s been a wonderful experience. I do want to say that this is my first time with Springfield Community Theatre, but I have worked with Don Neal before. He is the reason I respect the man and I have enjoyed working with him. I was delighted to be available to choreograph this show.

Mike: Well, it’s all coming together this week.

Elaine: It has to doesn’t it?

Mike: Sure does. No pressure like a deadline.

Elaine: Right.

Mike: Ok, well thanks very much for talking with me. It’s been interesting.

Elaine: Ok. Well thank you Mike and we’ll see you soon.

Mike: This is Mike with ShowBizRadio and I am backstage talking with Spencer Mickelson who is playing Schroeder in Springfield Community Theatre’s You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Thanks for talking with me, Spencer.

Spencer: You’re welcome. It’s a pleasure.

Mike: Do you really play piano or is it all acting up there?

Spencer: I played enough piano in college to get me past the proficiency requirement to be a music major and that’s about where I stopped.

Mike: Why a music major?

Spencer: I have just always loved music ever since I was little. I had done it casually up until the point when I was 14 and in high school. My choir teacher really took me under his wing. There is a shortage of male vocalists in the world. I guess he saw some potential there and I’ve been studying voice ever since then. Couldn’t leave it behind.

Mike: So you’re a singer?

Spencer: I am a singer.

Mike: Is a singer your job?

Spencer: I hope it is my job at some point in time.

Mike: Do you do anything musically other than community theatre?

Spencer: I sing in my church choir and I do musical numbers for the congregation with some amount of frequency. As far as formal applications of it, not quite yet. I hope to some day sing professionally as far as a theatrical application is concerned.

Mike: So you don’t see yourself going on American Idol do you?

Spencer: Oh, heck no. Sorry to everybody that loves that show, but that’s just not for me.

Mike: Have you found it easy to be Schroeder or has it been a stretch? What’s different about Schroeder?

Spencer: I’ve never played this young of a child before. It’s fun to have that release, I guess. I’ve had a lot of roles where it’s a lot of heavy emotion and it takes you awhile to get into character or to go to that anger or hate or hurt or pain. Whatever is the requirement for that certain character. Such a release to go and play this 5 year old kid whose biggest care is playing piano on a daily basis. He’s doing well in school. Whose plodding and poking at everyone to kind of make fun of him. As far as difficulties, I don’t know, it’s been a lot of fun. There have been a couple of things that I’ve problems with just in the music and then just getting to rehearsal with everything else that I have going on. Other than that it’s all been a lot of fun.

Mike: What character in the show do you thing you’re most like?

Spencer: I would probably say Schroeder. I think that may just be because I know his character the best in playing him. I think I have a little bit of an ego and Schroeder definitely has that egotistical edge to him. Even though I don’t think he would admit that he has it. And then just kind of that love and passion for music. And kind of life as a whole, I see Schroeder as not just a lover of music, but a lover of many things. A lover of life as a whole. When he talks about Beethoven loving the walks in the countryside. I think he looks for his inspiration everywhere. I identify with that.

Mike: Has it been hard working with Lucy because she’s younger?

Spencer: I love working with kids. The last two shows that I did were a Christmas Carol and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Both of which have a large underage child dynamic in it. I don’t know if it’s more that I’m on their level than with adults. I have a lot of fun. I remember when I was that age and the confidence and the relief it was to find something that I was talented at. It’s neat to see both Cody and Lexi step up to the plate and really come into their own and develop their talents and hold their own with all of us who have been studying theater for years. They’re really two very talented girls.

Mike: It’s been really nice in rehearsals watching everybody getting comfortable with each other and starting to play tricks and do the kid stuff together. It’s definitely appearing on stage when you guys are all appearing together.

Spencer: Thank you.

Mike: Do you have a role that you would just kill to do someday?

Spencer: That’s kind of two fold. I would love to do Sweeny Todd. That’s more of a musical thing. Vocally that music really suits me. As far as an emotional journey that would not be my number one pick. I did Into the Woods in college and I played Cinderella’s Prince. And while that was a fun part, there isn’t too much emotional integrity to him. A fairly one dimensional character. I was exposed to the character of the Baker and I just love the questions that his character asks and the conclusions he comes to. I would love to play the Baker in Into the Woods.

Mike: I could see that. I could definitely see that. Anything else you’d like to share with anybody that might be listening?

Spencer: I just feel really lucky to be in this show. It was kind of a last minute throw together. I had been in a Christmas Carol with Keith and he called me and told me to come to the call back auditions. I went not knowing what the schedule would be. I’m taking a couple classes in the evenings. I was really lucky that they were able to work around my schedule and ask me to do the role of Schroeder. It’s just been a really positive experience and I’m glad that I was able to do it and that they let me.

Mike: It’s definitely been fun watching you so I think it will be a really good show.

Spencer: Thank you very much.

Mike: You’re welcome. Thanks for talking with me tonight.

Spencer: Not a problem at all. I’ll see you on opening night then.

Mike: Hi, this is Mike with ShowBizRadio and I am backstage at the Springfield Community Theatre talking with Charlie Brown, who is the Master Carpenter and Set Designer for You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. Of course the first thing that has to be asked is, is your name really Charlie Brown?

Charlie: Yes, it really is. I was born in the same year, six months before the Charlie Brown cartoon character came out. My parents didn’t know and yes, it’s been interesting having gone through fifty some odd years with that name.

Mike: Did you ever think about using your middle name or using Charles or anything like that?

Charlie: Edward, yes I thought about changing it to Edward or Eddie. Naw I just decided to stay with it.

Mike: Has it generally been a good thing or a funny thing, a party ice breaker?

Charlie: Yeah, it’s generally been good. High school I got ribbed a lot about being called a block head. Once I got into college everybody accepted the name and got a kick out of it. It”s generally been funny.

Mike: So how did you get involved with Springfield Community Theatre?

Charlie: I was dating my current wife in 1988. She was involved as a costume designer for Springfield Community Theatre. I started helping out with sets because I had some carpentry experience. The next thing I knew they were asking me to do master carpentry of a play in the next year.

Mike: So you’ve been doing things for almost 20 years now?

Charlie: It would be like sixteen, seventeen years.

Mike: Have you had any challenging set designs to work on?

Charlie: Yes, most sets you have, have their challenges. That’s one of the reasons I like doing the sets. There was one called the Foreigner. I had to build a trap door that had to work, even though we didn’t have a place underneath it to go to so we had fake it with a little trolly type thing that went through the wall that had a quilt that made the wall cave in. Then we used smoke. That was definitely a challenge. Fortunately I had a very talented staff of carpenters working with me and they came up with some great ideas. All I did was say, “Alright, that sounds good to me.”

Mike: Have there been any challenges so far with what you’ve done for Charlie Brown?

Charlie: Yes. The monkey bars. The director really wanted to have metal pipes to make a monkey bar set made out of metal. I had to tell him I’ve never really worked with it. I came up with the idea of using wooden dowels that are an inch and a half that are definitely strong enough for people to be on. Getting all those dowels and bars to line up and getting them constructed was quite a challenge.

Mike: Is it awkward building around that existing set area up there?

Charlie: Yes and no. It actually wasn’t too bad. I had built that set a year ago and SCT was just reusing around it. That’s what we’re using this time too. So I was familiar with the set. The other interesting thing was building the dog house. Again we built it around the set so that you still get the look of a dog house with a roof that Snoopy has to ward off the Red Baron with. It wasn’t too bad. You had to make it strong enough for a person to sit on.

Mike: If you could be any Charlie Brown character, either in this show or the comic strip, which would you be do you think?

Charlie: Of course you take the obvious, Charlie Brown. There’s my name. The other one I would really like would be Linus.

Mike: Oh yeah? Is he most like you?

Charlie: I guess throughout my life I’ve been more like Charlie Brown. I’ll have some blockhead things happen to me and I’ll go, “I didn’t expect that to happen to me, but just like the cartoon character, these things happen.”

Mike: Is there anything else you’d like to share with the people that might be listening?

Charlie: It has been a real pleasure working on it. The director and producer have been real nice. I think beyond having the on the set construction. The cast looks like a real fun group. I’m really looking forward to watching the show the next weekend, February 24th.

Mike: Well, thanks very much for sharing with us about the set process and the fun things that are going on with that.

Charlie: I appreciate that you guys are doing this too. This will be interesting to hear.

Mike: Hi this is Mike Clark with ShowBizRadio. I’m backstage at the Springfield Community Theatre’s production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. I’m talking with Steven Haber who is playing Linus. How are you doing, Steven?

Steven: I’m doing fine, how are you doing?

Mike: I’m doing well. So I hope you’re enjoying yourself as Linus. Have you been learning a lot of new things through this role?

Steven: I am. I found some challenges I didn’t expect, but it’s been a lot of fun, too.

Mike: I would guess one of the challenges is dancing.

Steven: One of the challenges is dancing. I think I’m the oldest person in the cast and possibly the oldest Linus anyone has ever seen.

Mike: You definitely feel like a Linus. It is not an insult or anything. I think you’re doing the part really well.

Steven: Thank you. I hope to express the character in more ways than dancing.

Mike: What have you done in the past? How did you get started doing acting and performing?

Steven: I used to do acting in high school. The usual stuff. I took some acting classes and did some productions in college. Then I started working in New York and things got too busy for it. I think what got me back into performing was I joined a chorus in New York and sang a lot for a few years. Then I moved to Washington I joined a similar chorus and maybe a few plays I was involved in. After that I started auditioning for some of the community theatre because I realized how much I missed performing.

Mike: Since you’re in the chorus, do you prefer musicals over regular plays?

Steven: I like both. I know there’s some people who prefer one to h other. I enjoy the energy of a musical and I like a dramatic role where you can get into something a little more deeply without having to worry about music and movement in the same place.

Mike: What would your ideal part be or a part you would just kill to be in?

Steven: I’ve already done it actually.

Mike: Oh really?

Steven: Several years ago in a male version of Nunsense called Nunsense Amen. I played the Mother Superior. That was my favorite all time role.

Mike: What made it such a fun great role?

Steven: It had a lot of heart to it. It was a funny show. It was well received. I love the humor of the part.

Mike: Is it the same as the regular Nunsense or is it written for men?

Steven: It wasn’t rewritten. It was the same exact script. The only difference was they transposed the numbers into male appropriate keys. We like to think of Nunsense as genderless.

Mike: I talked to Lexi Haddad playing Lucy a couple hours ago. She had good things to say about having a little brother. How do you feel about having a big sister?

Steven: I love having a big sister. It’s especially fun that my big sister is 12 years old.

Mike: Do you have a sister in real life that you’re working off of, or a big brother?

Steven: I have two sisters and two brothers so I can use all of those. I feel close to my sisters so it’s really helpful. Although Linus and Lucy have their little spats on stage, you see that they really love each other, too.

Mike: What character are you most like in real life do you think?

Steven: In this play I think it’s a mixture. There are many parts to me that are like Linus. I think everyone can identify with Charlie Brown. We always feel like we don’t fit in in some places. That’s probably part of why this how is so popular. What I really like about this show and I’m not sure Springfield Community Theatre’s publicity is pointed it out, but this is probably not the You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown that most people have seen. In the 1999 Broadway revival, they rewrote so much of it. They changed some characters. The original didn’t have a Sally in it and this one does. I recall the music being a lot more simplistic. A lot more juvenile, which matched the characters, but when they redid it they added a lot more harmony and musical styles. You’ll hear a lot more classical tributes and some rock and roll things that people might not remember from the original. There is some interesting stuff going on musically in this production.

Mike: That’s true. Sally was played by Kristin Chenoweth on Broadway and she got a Tony award for it.

Steven: Exactly and my guess is they pretty much wrote that part with her in mind.

Mike: I can definitely see her in that.

Mike: What’s your favorite number or song from the show?

Steven: I think I like the Beethoven Day number the best.

Mike: Why is that?

Steven: I think it’s got a lot of energy. Part of it might be because we’ve rehearsed that one so much. We now it pretty well. I also like happiness. It’s a nice tag to the end of the play.

Mike: Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?

Steven: I just hope people will come see the show and enjoy it as much as we’ve enjoyed working on it.

Mike: Ok, well, thanks very much for chatting with me today.

Steven: Thank you.

Mike: Hi this is Mike with ShowBizRadio. I’m backstage with Lexi Haddad with the Springfield Community Theatre’s production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. How are you doing Lexi?

Lexi: I’m good. How are you doing, Mike?

Mike: Good. Thanks for talking with me.

Lexi: Good. I’m happy to be here.

Mike: You’re playing the role of Lucy Van Pelt in Charlie Brown.

Lexi: I sure am. I love playing this role.

Mike: Oh yeah?

Lexi: She’s just such a fun role to play. She’s a five year old brat. What more could you want?

Mike: Do you have any younger brothers or sisters you boss around?

Lexi: No I don’t.

Mike: No?

Lexi: But I have plenty of practice.

Mike: Watching you up there. You’ve really gotten into the role. Every time you do your laugh, I just love the laugh.

Lexi: Well thanks.

Mike: Can you do the laugh?

Lexi: Lexi laughs.

Mike: That’s the one. Charlie Brown, when you tease him or pull the football, that type of thing. It really works quite well.

Lexi: I love doing that laugh. It sounds evil. That’s the fun part.

Mike: So how long have you been acting?

Lexi: I’ve been acting since I was about six. I started when I was three or four. I started memorizing, really strangely, I started memorizing entire music scores. Like The Wizard of Oz and Les Miserables. I was watching the film such as Cats and Riverdance over and over and over and over again. Pretty soon I just became obsessed. My mom enrolled me in a musical theatre workshop at a performing arts studio. For several years I took various types of dance and music and theatre workshops. I also studied with Classika Theatre for several years.

Mike: It’s probably important to note that, how old are you right now?

Lexi: I’m 12 years old.

Mike: So you’ve got six years of experience already. What’s your favorite part you’ve done so far?

Lexi: Other than Lucy, my favorite role is when I played JoJo in Suessical the Musical, with St. Mark’s Players about two years ago. That was an amazing show. I loved that role. It was just a very imaginative role. I played a boy, but that was ok. I really liked playing JoJo, though because his mind was just really imaginative and creative.

Mike: Was that mostly other kids or was it a mixed cast of kids and adults?

Lexi: Mostly it was adults, but there were many kids in it as well.

Mike: So it was kind of like Charlie Brown where it’s a mixed cast as well.

Lexi: Pretty much.

Mike: So are you finding that hard to play a bunch of kids with all these adults around you?

Lexi: It’s not that hard. With this role I feel like I can goof off and be free. When I’ve done other shows with adults I have to be very grown up and mature. But, in this show whatever I do, be goofy or anything, it can add into my character of a five year old brat. It’s just really fun being yourself.

Mike: What is it like having a little brother, Linus?

Lexi: Linus. Steven has been very fun to work with. He has made the character come so alive. It’s just hilarious and very fun. In the scene that I punch him and the scenes where I’m curling my fists at him. That’s just fun seeing his face. I’m trying so hard not to laugh. It’s just great working with him. Linus is the scared little brother who drags his blanket around. He’s a little baby. It’s really funny.

Mike: So what are your long term plans? Do you want to do theatre and performing forever? Or is it a hobby do you think or is it too early to tell?

Lexi: I really want to do theater when I go to college. This is what I want to pursue. I think this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I’ve performed at the Kennedy Center and I hope to maybe star in a lead role there one day. Or even on Broadway. I really think this is what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.

Mike: Wow, very good. What did you do at the Kennedy Center?

Lexi: I started out when I was about seven in the children’s chorus for the Nutcracker. That was with the Washington Ballet. Then I moved on to the Washington Opera and the Queen of Spades. I was a Little Russian Girl. And several other operas with them. Then the Nutcracker again. Then I did Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. That was really fun. I got to work with Mary Stuart Masterson, Dana Ivy, and George Grizzard. That was an equity production. It took a lot of work, 12 and 13 hour days, but it really paid off. It was a lot of fun. There were several other kids with me that played my brothers and sisters. That was lots of fun.

And then following that, I performed in The Changeling which was sort of like a fund raiser type thing for advertising children with Autism. There were two performances for that. One for kids who had special abilities and special needs. The other was for the actual company that was funding the performance and the awards. That was a really interesting experience. I learned a lot about Autism on that production. We actually had to know the background of what was going on. That was very interesting and educational.

Mike: Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Lexi: There’s one thing I do want to say. Everyone come see Charlie Brown. It is a great show. I would love to see every single person that listens to this even though I don’t know you. I fully know that you will appreciate this show. The cast is great. The music is great. The voices are amazing. It’s just a hilarious show and I highly recommend you come and see it and bring your family.

Mike: Very good. Thanks very much.

Lexi: No problem. Thank you very much, Mike.

Mike: You’re welcome, Lexi.

Mike: Hi this is Mike with the ShowBizRadio Spotlight. Today I am talking with Don Neal who is directing the Springfield Community Theatre’s production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Good morning. How are you doing?

Don: Good morning. How are you?

Mike: I’m doing ok.

Mike: I’ve seen you in several shows over the past couple of years. You’ve even got years and years of experience before that. Do you prefer doing acting or directing or anything with theatre?

Don: Actually I’ve done acting directing and producing for quite a number of years. I moved to Northern Virginia in 1975. I got involved immediately in community theater. Since 1975 I’ve acted, directed or produced over 130 shows for community, dinner, and professional theater. I manage to keep busy.

Mike: Was that your career or were you in another field?

Don: I was a career army officer for 22 years. In that time traveling around the world, I found a very interesting community theater set up. All of the military bases back in the 50’s and 60’s had theater groups that were funded by the government. Those theater groups on the military bases worked hand in hand with community theater in the local town. Sharing talent and technical expertise. Exchanging props and costumes. I had quite a bit of theater experience while I was in the service. After I retired I did a couple of things. I taught school. I was a tennis teaching pro for 20 years. I coached both high school and college tennis teams. I’ve only been completely retired retired for about 5 years now. So I’ve managed to keep busy. But along with community theater I’ve done film and television work since coming to the Washington area. I’ve done a little bit of everything over the years.

Mike: How did you get involved with Springfield’s You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown?

Don: I’ve known about Springfield Community Theatre for a long time. I have not directed a show for them. I’ve spent most of my directing time with Little Theatre of Alexandria, Port City Playhouse, and various other community theaters around the beltway. But I don’t like to travel long distances without getting paid for it. In this particular case, I became aware that Springfield Community Theatre was doing Charlie Brown as a replacement show for the Wizard of Oz. I was very interested in Charlie Brown. I’ve seen the show several times over the years. I like the concept of the show and the methodology of presenting the show. I asked president and producer Anita Gardner if I could interview to direct that show. I got an interview. I presented a concept that they liked. They awarded me the show.

Mike: Since we’ve been going to the rehearsals, we’ve seen the six performers just kind of change into six year olds. That’s a pretty good trick considering the wide range of ages. Has that been problem having 30 year olds and 12 year olds, 14 year olds working?

Don: No, in fact it’s not a problem. That’s exactly the concept with which I approached the show auditions with in my mind. I told Anita I wanted to advertise the auditions as being open to all ages, all physical types. There’s a good reason for that. I don’t see any production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown as tracking with the Peanuts comic strip. You don’t necessarily want lookalikes for the Peanuts characters. Each actor creates an individual persona and that’s what I was looking for. The fact that we have cast ranging in age from 12 into their 30’s doesn’t bother me at all. That’s exactly what I was looking for.

Now in this particular case, the two 12 year old girls that we have playing Lucy and Sally, I think are going to be super stars. Right now they’re not old enough to participate in high school productions for the Cappie Awards, but I think they both have tremendous talent and wonderful potential. Both of them have studied their craft at places like the Shakespeare Theatre and the Kennedy Center. Both have performed professionally already. So they’re ready for a show like this to create an individual character. They mix with and get along beautifully with the actors that are in their 30’s in this cast. It’s a wonderfully cohesive cast and they’re having a lot of fun with each other.

Mike: Who was the hardest character to cast?

Don: Charlie.

Mike: Yeah? What were you looking for for Charlie?

Don: I was looking for someone who projected the qualities of a nerdy 5 year old. What I told all the actors when they came in to audition was you’re going to have to get out of yourself and into the mindset of an awkward 5 year old. We’re trying to project that all the way through the dance numbers. Elaine and I originally set out not to do polished choreography, but to give all these people movements that an awkward 5 year old would perform. And then rehearse them to the point where together they look like Radio City Rockettes. So far we’re heading in that direction.

We’re not doing terribly polished dance numbers in the sense of musical comedy. The movements that these actors have been given to do are what I consider to be typical 5 year old movements and I’m something of an expert on that subject because I’ve raised two children of my own and have three grandchildren that are just into their teens, so I’m familiar with what it’s like to be a 5 year old. In the case of Charlie Brown, Keith Miller, who’s playing that role. He’s an accomplished actor and was able to sing and act in the vane of an awkward 5 year old who doesn’t do very many things right.

Mike: I think that’s wonderful. I’ve enjoyed seeing how it’s been coming together.

Don: I’m pleased with the progress so far. We’re two weeks out from our opening. We’re at the fine tuning polishing stage. Of course the music is in good shape. It’s under good control.

Mike: OK, well thanks very much for talking with me today.

Don: Thank you for giving me the opportunity.

Mike: That was Don Neal. He’s directing the upcoming production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown at the Springfield Community Theatre in Annandale, Virginia. And now, on with the show.