The time has come for Lee’s Summit High School’s debut of “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown”! The actors have worked their tails off for this moment and are ecstatic to show off their hard work. Opening night is Friday, April 30th at 7:00 PM. These actors and their director, Micah Hensley, have been working their tails off during rehearsals. Putting a play together can be difficult in general, but with the COVID-19 restrictions occurring, producing a good quality performance can be especially challenging. This cast has proved that with hard work, dedication, and determination it can most definitely happen! 

With opening night creeping closer, it is wondered if the actors are nervous or excited about performing. After all, opening night is the first performance that can determine how prepared a show is. Some may not feel nerves until the performance dates come closer.

 “Right now, I don’t have a lot of feelings about opening night. Even though it’s only two weeks away, I personally don’t start getting nervous or excited before the week of dress rehearsals.” Ethan Gruen said. 

On the other hand, some actors may feel nervous or excited throughout most of the rehearsal process. 

“The rehearsal process has been chaotic because of the lack of time we had, and having to work around everyone’s schedules,” Nick Gerding said. “Luckily everyone in the cast is committed and is willing to put in extra effort to learn their part. Opening night will always be nerve-racking, but I think we can pull it off” 

Director Hensley is also excited for opening night. 

“It’s always exciting to get to opening night because that’s the moment all your hard work comes to fruition and you get to go out there and just have to do what you’ve worked so hard to get to the point to do!” Hensley said. 

Considering this is all taking place during the midst of a global pandemic the rehearsal process itself has been impacted. One of the most important parts of acting is stage direction, which can range anywhere from the director instructing their actor to move to a specific place when blocking, for example: “downstage right-center,” or instructing them to do something more expressive, such as a gesture. An example of this being, looking disgusted, reacting to something another person did in the show, etc. One of the most obvious COVID restrictions is the face mask. While it is for safety, it is frustrating when working with them and acting. 

“The most difficult thing about being in a cast during a pandemic is the fact that our faces are covered,” Gruen said. “It makes it difficult for our director, Mr. Hensley, to tell us what facial expressions to make. Also, the fact that you could get quarantined at any time is a challenge.” 

Quarantine is another challenge they are facing. Since it is a small cast musical, if one actor were to get sick or be exposed to the virus through family or school, that could potentially be detrimental to not only the rehearsal process in general, but also to the actual performance depending on when that person was quarantined. It should also be noted that if one actor is quarantined due to being sick, that could lead to other actors being sent home because they were exposed to and could be infected with the virus.

When asking Tristan Pettorss what is the most difficult thing about being in a show during a pandemic, he said “Cast Members going into quarantine and not getting to be at rehearsals, also having to wear masks while performing.” 

With any show, “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown” would not be possible without the director, Hensley. Just like his cast, he has been working hard to make sure everything falls into place. Directing is a lot harder than one would suspect it to be. There are a lot of hard parts of putting a show together, but what could be considered the hardest part of directing? 

“Honestly, planning. Because you plan, then have to change that plan, then adjust the change plan, then alter the adjusted plan.” Hensley said. “What are we allowed to do or not do? Will we have an audience? Just so many variables you don’t normally have to deal with that just makes an already difficult process much more difficult!” 

The stress was real when putting this show together. Like mentioned before, the unknown quarantines and fast memorization puts a lot of pressure on everyone involved in the show. If this were to have been a normal year, the musical would have taken place early in the year, in November. Now that the pandemic has postponed the show to April, making it even more of a “pressure bomb” on the actors and Hensley than it normally would be. This is because April is one of the busiest times of the year for students and teachers, especially in the theatre department. It is the end of the year, so there are a few other shows going on besides the school play. Not to mention students preparing for their end-of-year finals and seniors figuring out what they are going to do after graduation. Usually, a play takes a few months to put together because of costumes, memorization, blocking, the set, and more.

“I would say it’s been stressful for all of us. I want to deliver meaningful opportunities for my students that they will enjoy and grow from. But doing a show right now is more stressful than normal.” Hensley said. “I’m planning and trying to pull something together that we normally spend a few months on and take and do that over the course of about a month. And there wasn’t a lot of pre-planning because we didn’t know what we were going to be able to do even for a long time so I’m having to really put what takes months from the director’s perspective and put it all in, in about one month!”

Normally, our school doesn’t do small cast musicals. The past three years the musicals were “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Footloose,” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” This year’s musical is also unique in the sense that it is the first musical LSHS has produced during a pandemic. Instead of having understudies, “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown” has two different casts. This means that each role has two different actors that will perform at different parts of the day. For example, Nick Gerding and John Bellamlik both play the role of “Linus”. Every character is double casted, except for “Snoopy”, who is played by Kevin Silva.

“John and I both love the role because we get to both make unique character choices. Being on a time crunch, you kind of have to make those choices fast, so we got into our characters’ minds quickly.” Gerding said. “Linus is a smart kid, who seems to know everything, but is in love with his blanket. He stands out because of that. The fact that he can be so smart but so childish. Heck, he has an entire song about how he loves his blanket. I love this role because I get to act like a kid, but also seem like I’m smart.” 

Meet the Cast!

“Charlie Brown” is played by Tristan Pettorss and Bryce Williams. “I received the role of Charlie Brown, and honestly, it may seem like a lame show on the outside, but the music is in four part harmonies, the characters all have stories to tell, and there’s more depth to these eight-year-old kids than a lot of characters I’ve played, I’m in love with this role and the show in general.” Pettorss said. “Charlie stands out because of his depression and his lack of ability to do things like the other kids can, like sports, socializing, etc…  He finds it hard to fit in and in the whole show everyone is acting so happy and goofy, but Charlie is dealing with serious depression at a young age, one of the only things he’s passionate about is the cute red-headed girl that he has a crush on.” 

“Lucy” is played by Mara Bannister and Emma Bauman. She is blunt with advice and wants confirmation of her worth from others. She can be oblivious to others’ feelings, especially Charlie Brown. She is infatuated with Schroeder and is Linus’s sister. 

“Linus” is played by John Bellamlik and Nick Gerding. He is a gentle philosopher with a large vocabulary, who can be quite vocal in defense of his security blanket. 

“Sally” is played by Dylan Dean and Katelyn Johnson. Sally is Charlie Brown’s little sister. She is younger than the others but is just as intelligent. As well as precious! 

“Schroeder” is played by Ethan Gruen and Hudson Stanfield-Myers. He is a piano prodigy who loves Beethoven. He finds Lucy annoying. “I enjoy the role because he has a unique personality”. Gruen said. “He is insightful, but also kind of awkward, sometimes both at the same time. He also has an obsession with music. He plays the piano and loves Beethoven. He’s not what you would call an average six-year-old.” 

“Snoopy” is played by Kevin Silva. Snoopy is classically anthropomorphized and is a reflection of creativity, wisdom, and humanity. He will never be an “ordinary dog.” 

Performance Dates:

Friday, April 30 Opening Night,    7:00 PM

Saturday, May 1 2nd Performance,  2:00 PM

Saturday, May 1 3rd Performance,  7:00 PM

Sunday, May 2 4th Performance,  2:00 PM