You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
1971 Broadway poster for the John Golden Theatre
Music	Clark Gesner
Lyrics	Clark Gesner
Book	John Gordon
Basis	Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts
Productions	1967 Off-Broadway 1968 West End 1970 U.S. Tour 1971 Broadway 1998 U.S. Tour 1999 Broadway revival 2008 Manhattan 2016 Off-Broadway revival
Awards	1967 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Production 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown is a 1967 musical comedy with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner, based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip Peanuts. The musical has been a popular choice for amateur theatre productions because of its small cast and simple staging.

John Gordon was credited with the book of the show, but according to Gesner's foreword in the published script, John Gordon is a "collective pseudonym" that covers Gesner, the cast members, and the production staff, all of whom worked together to assemble the script.

During the early 1960s, Gesner had begun writing songs based on Schulz's Peanuts characters, but was unable to get permission from the United Features Syndicate to use the characters in his songs. Eventually Gesner sent Schulz a tape of some of the songs and Gesner soon had permission to record them, which he did in 1966.Orson Bean sang the role of Charlie Brown, Clark Gesner sang Linus, Barbara Minkus sang Lucy, and Bill Hinnant sang Snoopy (he reprised his role in the Off-Broadway production).

At the time, Gesner had no plans for a musical based on this pre-production "concept album". However, producer Arthur Whitelaw, who would later go on to write another musical based on Peanuts, encouraged Gesner to turn the album into a musical.

The stage adaptation of the concept album, entitled You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, went into rehearsal in New York City on February 10, 1967. Prior to its opening, the musical had no actual libretto; it was several vignettes with a musical number for each one.

On March 7, 1967, the musical premiered off-Broadway at Theatre 80 in the East Village, featuring Gary Burghoff as Charlie Brown, Skip Hinnant as Schroeder, Reva Rose as Lucy, Bob Balaban as Linus, Karen Johnson as Patty (an early Peanuts character not to be confused with Peppermint Patty), and Bill Hinnant as Snoopy.Joseph Hardy directed and choreographer Patricia Birch was billed as "Assistant to the Director". Joe Raposo, later of Sesame Street fame, was billed as "Music Director" and composer of incidental music for the show. This production of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown lasted 1,597 performances, closing on February 14, 1971.