Cast Dazzles at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center!
Shows are Continuing at ChappPac through December 19, and then it’s on to Broadway, Dec. 20-24
Visit www.ACharlieBrownChristmasLive.com Scroll to bottom for direct links to ticket sales.
Chappaqua, NY, December 4— While the opening show already took place last night, I’d be remiss not to urge families in Chappaqua, Westchester, and beyond, to go and grab tickets while you still can for family and friends, with Saturday night and Sunday performances happening this weekend too, to enjoy this delightful, playful, leaving-to-Broadway soon classic production here in town for a respectable stretch, December 3-19, before it moves to the Palladium in Times Square. Take out your holiday ‘to do’ list and add: Tickets to Broadway Heaven Here First on a Beautiful Stage in Chappaqua.
Todd Gershwin, producer, was on hand at a preview event to relate that the show has been a holiday ‘must see’ in cities across north America since 2017. “We’ve played in the biggest cities and theaters. We’ve been waiting for the right time to bring this show home,” said Gershwin, a Westchester resident for the last 15 years, too. After Westchester, we’re going to New York City and Times Square at the Palladium,” he told press who if I had to guess were as mesmerized as I was by the talented cast’s opening numbers.
“There’s nowhere else that we wanted to launch the show and develop the show but here,” Gershwin said of the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center. “The last few weeks in Westchester have been incredible and we plan on bringing many more big shows here.”
Along with the cast performing several opening numbers during a special preview, Director Robert Coulson took to the ChappPac stage as well to first thank Gershwin for his vision, and to also offer a poignant observation of the theatre experience in these pandemic times. “This is the first time a lot of people are seen here after the pandemic, being around our loved ones and our families, and making new memories and new holiday traditions,” said Coulson. “As soon as I found out that we were going to be doing this in Westchester and specifically in Chappaqua, I was thrilled!” said Coulson, who related that he went to school in Chappaqua, too.
He said that there’s a new version to the show, one “that makes it feel like a ‘book musical’… it has the traditional musical theatre element that we love.”
But what struck me most was Coulson relating that Charles Schultz was “a visionary… and that much like Fred Rogers, he did not speak down to children; he really tackled important issues in his comic strips, and that’s an important way to talk to kids, and also to adults,” who grew up with Charlie Brown in the mid ’60s.
“Being able to bring this to a new generation is really exciting,” he said, as was adding a new segment “when Lucy is talking to Schroeder about her crush and asks him to play Jingle Bells, and she finally gets to live her fantasy moment to be “the Christmas Queen.”
“We’re thrilled to share the show with Chappaqua and to people coming from all over the world to experience Christmas in New York.”
The following info was provided to the Inside Press:
More About A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live On Stage
Just in time for the holiday season, everyone’s favorite Peanuts holiday special comes to life in A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live on Stage, Dec. 3 – 19 at Chappaqua Performing Arts Center (480 N Bedford Rd, Chappaqua, NY). Charles M. Schulz’s Emmy and Peabody award-winning story has been a longstanding tradition, warming the hearts of millions of fans since it first aired on television over 50 years ago. Now, the live stage adaptation of the classic animated television special brings all your favorite characters to life -all set to the original special’s dialogue as well as the unforgettable sounds of the classic Vince Guaraldi musical score. A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live on Stage celebrates the timeless television classic as the whole family can join Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the Peanuts characters in their journey to uncover the true meaning of Christmas. After the final bow, the show crescendos into a celebration of song as the audience is invited to join the Peanuts gang in singing traditional Christmas songs and carols. A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live on Stage, by Charles M. Schulz, is based on the television special by Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson, and adapted for the stage adaptation by Eric Schaeffer, by special arrangement with Arthur Whitelaw and Ruby Persson. A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live on Stage is produced by Gershwin Entertainment / Todd Gershwin. A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live on Stage comes to The Chappaqua Performing Arts Center engagement prior to the New York City premiere engagement December 21 – 24 at The Palladium Times Square (1515 Broadway, NYC). For more information, click here.
