Actors at Whiteland Community High School hope their performance is worth more than peanuts when they perform “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” this weekend.

The spring production, which runs Thursday through Sunday, is the first musical the school has put on in four years, meaning all the actors on stage are participating in their first high school musical. Director Tara Sorg revived the theater program in the fall with “12 Angry Jurors,” a drama. With the spring show, she wanted to give audiences something more light-hearted, Sorg said.

“This is the first year the theater program has been a thing again and we want to keep the cast small, the show simple and keep it family-friendly. We want people to be interested in what we do,” she said. “It’s not super plot-driven. It’s a bunch of vignettes, short scenes frame-for-frame from comic books. The musical numbers expand the concept from the comic strip. The script calls it ‘a day in the life of Charlie Brown.’”

Those vignettes include Charlie Brown at a baseball game, at school, at lunch and on Valentine’s Day, among other scenes. About 25 students auditioned for the play, but Sorg had to narrow it down to a cast of just 10.

“I knew I needed kids who could play something youthful. I looked for singing ability and it’s a children’s-oriented show, so I needed guys with good upper range. It’s not a serious piece, I don’t need Charlie to be more serious than he already is. It’s hard work. Charlie and Lucy were my hardest workers in ‘12 Angry Jurors.’ They’ve proven their hard work and dedication.”

Senior Eli Parr plays Charlie Brown, following his role as Juror No. 7 in ‘12 Angry Men’ in the fall.

“I didn’t think I would try out because it was a musical. I never really sang before, but I did it just to see. I was going in not expecting to do a part, but I started listening to the (soundtrack). I never gave it a solid try to sing, just like I had never given it a solid try to act. I gave it 110% at the audition and I got the lead,” Parr said. “In ‘Charlie Brown’ comics and TV shows, he is extremely depressed and monotone. I realized you can’t do that on stage. It’s not as funny as seeing an animated character do it. I have to pep it up a little bit, there’s a lot of hand gestures and emotions to get behind.”

Parr still keeps essential parts of the Charlie Brown character intact, such as a lack of confidence and slow speech, he said.

Anna Muir, also a senior, will play the role of Marcie, Peppermint Patty’s best friend.

“I’ve been wanting to do a musical with the school for my entire high school career,” Muir said. “I grew up watching ‘Peanuts’ and reading the comics, and it’s kind of like a bit of my childhood, playing the characters I grew up watching and reading about. It’s good for families. It’s good for adults to see their own childhood and good for children to start a new generation of people liking these characters.”

Isabelle Wilson will wrap up her high school career playing Snoopy.

“I’ve always been into theater of sorts, it intrigued me, but I haven’t been extremely involved in theater since middle school. It’s fun to get involved again as a senior,” Wilson said. “There’s definitely a bit of comic relief with our baseball game and Snoopy is always seen as not really talking, but here, I actually have parts interacting with other characters.”

People with a desire for nostalgia will enjoy the production, said Garrett Godsey, a music director for the play who focuses on singing, while band director Pete Sampson leads the pit orchestra.

“The play, it’s charming,” Godsey said. “It’s nostalgic in a lot of ways. The small cast for the play kind of gives it a light-hearted feel and a lot of good positive energy is coming from the stage.”

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