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When I selected You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown to be my first show at Abbott, some students asked why. For a moment, we’ll set aside that this was the first show I was ever in (I was 12, and I played Charlie Brown). We’ll also set aside the fact that, from a very early age, the Peanuts comic strip made me eager to get home from school so I could grab the newspaper and read about the antics of a bunch of kids that weren’t that different from me and my friends, or the first books I ever bought for myself were collections of Peanuts comic strips (yes, I'm old).

This year is the 75^th anniversary of the Peanuts comic strip appearing in print. It’s a bit mind-boggling that characters created so long ago are still so relevant – and in the case of Snoopy, at least –popular in 2025. Charles Schultz was writing about his childhood, but he created a bunch of universally relatable characters. Who doesn’t know someone as bossy as Lucy, or as intelligent as Linus? It is, however, Charlie Brown who is the hero of the Peanuts world – and the main reason I selected this particular show.

Perseverance. No matter how many times his kite crashes, how many times he tries to work up the courage to talk to the Little Redheaded Girl and fails, or even how many times Lucy pulls away the football – Charlie Brown simply does not give up. He hangs in there, no matter how much the odds are stacked against him. What might any of us have accomplished if we just tried a time or two more, or used a different strategy?  Charlie Brown tries his best – and when he fails, he tries again. And again. It’s such a simple lesson, but so important. 

Mounting this show has not been without its challenges – but like Charlie Brown, we persevered. And like Charlie Brown, we did our best. On behalf of the cast and crew, we hope you enjoy the show. Thank you for supporting our efforts.

Otto Coelho