On March 10^th-12^th, Justice High School’s well-renowned theater program, the Wolf­pack Theater, presented “You’re a Good Man Char­lie Brown”. The beloved clas­sic was seam­lessly performed here at Justice. Over the course of four shows, many people gath­ered to enjoy the capti­vat­ing, light­hearted production.

“You’re a Good Man, Char­lie Brown” is a musi­cal comedy based on the char­ac­ters from the comic strip “Peanuts,” created by cartoon­ist Charles M. Schulz. It follows the char­ac­ter Char­lie Brown, played by senior Diego Salazar-Jara, and his friends as they navi­gate the strug­gles of adolescence. 

The first scene opens with Char­lie Brown being reas­sured by Linus Van Pelt, played by senior Michael Hitch­cock, that his imma­tu­rity is allowed since he is so young. His close friend Lucy Van Pelt, played by senior Fay Khateeb, addresses his face as the ulti­mate “fail­ure face”, and they sing “You’re a Good Man Char­lie Brown”. In between them singing, Char­lie doubts himself and wonders why these friends of his care so much about him being a good man.

Char­lie Brown constantly worries about his ongo­ing inabil­ity to accom­plish tasks, includ­ing hitting a pitch in base­ball, making it to the bus on time, asking out the girl he likes, flying a kite, finish­ing his assign­ments on time, or even complet­ing school work in general. 

Through­out the play, the audi­ence sees Char­lie grow confi­dent in his abil­i­ties. He does­n’t let his fail­ures stand in the way of his accom­plish­ments. This was perfectly displayed in Act II when he refused to stop trying to fly the kite until he was success­ful, which Salazar-Jara found inspir­ing and relat­able. “I love the way Char­lie does­n’t let what others say stop him,” said Salazar-Jara. 

In prepa­ra­tion, Salazar-Jara read many of the comics and watched vari­ous produc­tions. He did a lot of research on Charlie’s behav­ior and emotion so he could repli­cate it. “I wanted to mirror his behav­iors; show the light but also show the dark.” 

The actors and crew members prepared intensely for the play. Fresh­man chore­o­g­ra­pher Chloe Kowal­cyk spent months help­ing the cast prepare for the dance numbers and learn the moves.“It felt so cool to see it come to life and I’m really proud of every­one’s work,” said Kowalcyk. 

After spend­ing most of the play over­think­ing and second-guess­ing himself, Char­lie finally becomes at peace with who he is. He real­izes that being a “good man” means giving your best effort and making the most of what you’ve been given in life. In the last scene, Lucy leans her head against Charlie’s shoul­der and says to him, “You’re a good man Char­lie Brown.”