Sing a song of Peanuts
> The comic strip characters are brought to live in the local production of the Broadway musical, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown
hit on Broadway.” Though the musical initially began its run in the late 1960s, the version that will be staged here is the 1990s revival version. “Even for an audience [unfamiliar] with Peanuts, they will enjoy it because of the dynamic relationship between the characters in the musical,” said Tan. He added that the show is perfect for the whole family and is something he feels many Malaysians do not get to see often in our local theatre scene.
“I believe the script will appeal to both children and adults in various ways.”
Casting was important as each character is so iconic.
“When we did the casting, we had to look at two things,” Tan said. “Initially, we had to look at the technical part – like which actor can both sing and dance.
“If I cast someone who can act but can’t sing or dance, or vice versa, you can imagine the problem we would have.
“Once I scrolled though the technical part and found the actors who could do all these things, I would look at the second part – the personalities.
“I would see if [their] characteristics [would] suit the role, then I would cast them.”
However, Atienza did not directly audition for his role as Linus, as he was already a familiar face, having starred in numerous Sifu productions before.
Tan said he could already see gathering chatter for her role as figure skater Tonya Harding in the Craig Gillespie-helmed biopic I, Tonya.
Two actresses who also found themselves the talk of TIFF were Saoirse Ronan – for her lead role in Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut Lady Bird (one of the toughest that Atienza had the characteristics to play the youngest member of the Peanuts group, who is often not taken seriously.
The actor, who confessed he only became a fan of the comic strip after doing research for the role, said: “What I love about Peanuts is that it features characters who are children, but they talk about serious subjects and adult themes.
“What they talk about is very interesting [and] adults can relate to it as well. What I love is the fact they are dealing with heavy subjects, but gift-wrapping them in a very cute way.”
Asked to describe Linus, Atienza said: “In a certain way, he is a kid, but he is also more mature than Charlie Brown because he knows a lot of stuff.”
Linus, as Atienza pointed out, is also the most compassionate.
Tan concurred: “I think Linus is the most interesting because he is secretly the smartest of them all.”
However, his dependence on his trademark security blanket gives screenings to get into at TIFF) – and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Edie Falco.
Falco had key roles in not one, but two independent films: Lynn Shelton’s bittersweet drama Outside In and I Love You, Daddy, the ‘secret’ film from comedian Louis C.K. in which she steals scenes as his off the impression that he is the weakest.
Each character has a strong personality, although Lucy seems to like to dominate all of them, especially the long-suffering Charlie whom she constantly picks on.
It is that aspect of their relationship that Tan likes, because as children, they will fight one minute and be friends the next.
He also likes the fact that some of these children would play at being adults, such as when Lucy opens her own ‘psychiatric practice’.
Tan said when they obtained the rights to stage the musical, there were certain terms and conditions attached, as the late Shultz’s estate is very particular about depicting the characters he created.
“There was a [rule] that said you cannot change the text and source material, but there was also a clause that allowed for localisation,” said Tan.
“We did not do that because personally, I felt it was weird to have Snoopy speak with a Malaysian accent.”
For showtimes and more, visit the DPAC website. protagonist Glenn Topher’s tortured production manager.
These may be roles usually favoured by the Golden Globes, but their placement in the Oscars category would only bolster what is going to be the fiercest best actress race in some time. – The Independent