Good Grief! Grossmont College Theatre Arts Department entertains a packed audience with their most recent presentation at the Stagehouse Theatre: “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown!”

As the quirky characters from the comic strip “Peanuts” by Charles M. Schulz come to life, they portray various themes throughout their acting.  Although the characters are children, many of their dilemmas can be relatable situations.

The protagonist, Charlie Brown, played by Benjamin Roy, is constantly confronted with having to make a decision, something college students face daily.  He comically analyzes all the possible effects, good and bad, of his options when making a simple decision.  How many of us spend too much time creating consequential scenarios in our head that may never happen?

Charlie Brown’s habit of thinking out loud got the audience “awing”.  He feels unworthy, especially in the Valentine’s Day scene, in which he doesn’t receive any Valentine’s Day cards as Snoopy his dog, played by Nick Eiter, passes by him carrying a huge cardboard box full of Valentines. Other scenes showed the actors doing high-speed choreography, performing upbeat songs, and making the audience laugh with their ironic “personalities”.  Insecure Charlie Brown finally comes to the realization that he is accepted by his crew of friends regardless of his failures.

Grossmont actors finished strong singing “Happiness” with the touching lyrics: “happiness is anyone, and anything at all, that’s loved by you”.  The crew individually bowed before holding hands to receive a standing ovation for a heartwarming musical well-done.