"A Charlie Brown Christmas Live on Stage" brings the classic animated tale to Petersburg on Dec. 19. (Photo by Richard Termine)
The television special "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is part of the holiday tradition in many homes, its annual broadcast bringing families together each winter. It's remembered for its timeless jazz piano soundtrack, its message of faith and friendship, and a skinny little tree. Now, a theater group is putting its own spin on the 1965 animated classic.
A touring version called “A Charlie Brown Christmas Live on Stage,” featuring the whole Peanuts gang, retells the television special with added scenes, more music and “more Christmas spirit,” according to the news release. Some of the new scenes include a prelude to the Christmas pageant and a Nativity scene.
Theater veteran Anthony Cantalupo is the producer and creative director of the stage show. He took Charles Schulz’s original work as an inspiration to make something that could continue to resonate with audiences. So far, people seem to enjoy it, he says.
“Nothing is more special than looking out like we did at our opening,” Cantalupo says, “and seeing the tear in the eye of a 50-year-old father and then watching somebody else's 6-year-old daughter dancing in the aisle.”
“A Charlie Brown Christmas Live on Stage” comes to the VSU Multi-Purpose Center in Petersburg on Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. $22 to $87.
