you were going to kill it!!

Reliving a bit of my childhood tonight. I’m watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”. Of course I have a signed document, even though it isn’t notarized.

Of course cartoons of the 1960’s were sometimes written for adults as well as children. I remember watching these shows year after year, but my parents would also watch. When they stopped showing them as often, my wife and I got the Charlie Brown cartoons on Video. I’m not sure, but I think I’ve seen each show at least 20 times. It could be more, but I don’t remember watching as much in High School or College.

Good shows, good humor make a timeless show.

Anyone have a favorite childhood cartoon?

Just finished watching the animated version of Dr. Seuss’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. This was a fairly faithful adaptation of the Dr Seuss book. With Boris Karloff (Frankenstein’s Monster, The Mummy and other horror stories from the black and white era) as the narrator and the voice of the Grinch. I watched this show as a child, and with my family when the girls were much younger. We do tend to watch the old standbys year after year. The stories hold up for young and old.

My lovely wife used to love all these Christmas animated classics. Charlie Brown’s Christmas, the Grinch, Frosty, Rudolph and I may be missing one or two. With a version or two of the Christmas Carol, our holiday view was full.

This all culminated, not with another movie, but with dear old dad reading “A night before Christmas”. I’m not exactly sure when it started, but when my oldest was 18 she still wanted me to read it.

I’m going to try to do it a little different this year. Future blog notes will let you know if I am successful. But I have some additional members of the family that haven’t heard this story from me yet. We will see.

Yet another email forward struck my fancy…  this one’s a personality test to determine which cartoon character you’re most like.  With 29 points, I am SpongeBob SquarePants, and my husband got 31 points, so he is also SpongeBob.  Not sure how truthful this is, but fun to take the little quiz.  I know, I should get a life…  but what about the person who sat and mapped out this whole personality test?
This is fun.
 
Everyone has a personality of a cartoon character. Have you ever asked yourself what cartoon character you most resemble?
A group of investigators got together and analyze the personalities of well known and modern cartoon characters. The information that was gathered was made into this test.
Answer all the questions (only 10) with what describes you best, add up all your points (which are next to the answer that you choose) at the end and look for your results.
Do not cheat by looking at the end of the e-mail before you are done .
Then forward this to all your friends (including the person who sent it to you) and change the subject of this message to what character is you.
1. Which one of the following describes the perfect date?
a) Candlelight dinner (4 pts.)
b) Fun/Theme Park (2 pts.)
c) Painting in the park (5 pts)
d) Rock concert (1 pt.)
e) Going to the movies (3 pts.)
 
2. What is your favorite type of music?
a) Rock and Roll (2 pts.)
b) Alternative (1 pt.)
c) Soft Rock (4 pts.)
d) Country (5 pts )
e)Pop (3 pts.)
 
3. What type of movies do you prefer?
a) Comedy (2 pts.)
b) Horror (1 pt.)
c) Musical (3 pts.)
d) Romance (4 pts.)
e) Documentary (5 pts.)
 
4. Which of these occupations would you choose if you only could pick one?
a) Waiter (4 pts.)
b) Professional Sports Player (5 pts.)
c) Teacher (3 pts.)
d) Police (2 pts.)
e) Cashier (1 pt.)
 
5. What do you do with your spare time?
a) Exercise (5 pts.)
b) Read (4 pts.)
c) Watch television (2 pts.)
d) Listen to music (1 pt.)
e) Sleep (3 pts.)
 
6. Which one of the following colors do you like best?
a) Yellow (1 pt.)
b) White (5 pts.)
c) Sky Blue (3 pts)
d) Dark Blue(2 pts.)
e) Red (4 pts.)
 
7. What do you prefer to eat?
a) Snow (3 pts.)
b) Pizza (2 pts.)
c) Sushi (1 pt.)
d) Pasta (4 pts.)
e) Salad (5 pts.)
 
8. What is your favorite holiday ?
a) Halloween (1 pt.)
b) Christmas (3 pts.)
c) New Year’s (2 pts.)
d) Valentine’s Day(4 pts.)
e) Thanksgiving (5 pts.)
 
9. If you could go to one of these places, which would it be?
a) Paris (4 pts.)
b) Spain (5 pts.)
c) Las Vegas (1 pt.)
d) Hawaii (4 pts.)
e) Hollywood (3 pts)
 
10. Which of the following people would you prefer to spend time with?
a) Someone smart (5 pts.)
b) Someone attractive (2 pts.)
c) Someone who likes to Party (1 pt.)
d) Someone who always has fun (3 pts.)
e) Someone very sentimental (4 pts.)
 
 
Now add up your points and find the answer you have been waiting for! Put your cartoon character’s name in the subject line and forward it to your friends and back to the person that sent this to you.
 
 
 
(10-16 points) You are Garfield:
You are very comfortable, easy going , and you definitely know how to have fun but sometimes you take it to an extreme. You always know what you are doing and you are always in control of your life. Others may not see things as you do, but that doesn’t mean that you always have to do what is right. Try to remember, your happy spirit may hurt you or others.
(17-23 points) You are Snoopy:
You are fun; you are very cool and popular. You always know what’s in and you’re never out of style, you are good at knowing how to satisfy everyone else. You have probably disappeared for a few days more than once, but you always come home with the family values that you learned. Being married and having children are important to you, but only after you have had your share of fun times.
(24-28 points) You are Elmo:
You have lots of friends and are popular, always willing to give advice and help out a person in need. You are very optimistic and always see the bright side of things. Some good advice: try not to be too much of a dreamer. Dreaming too big could cause many conflicts in your life.
(29-35 points) You are Sponge Bob Square Pants. You are the classic person everyone loves. You are the best friend that anyone could ever have and never wants to lose. You never cause harm to anyone and they would never not understand your feelings. Life is a journey, it’s funny and calm for the most part. Stay away from traitors and jealous people and you will be stress free.
(36-43 points) You are Charlie Brown:
You are tender, you fall in love quickly but you are also very serious about all relationships. You are a family person. You call your Mom every Sunday. You have many friends and may occasionally forget a few birthdays. Don’t let your passion confuse you with reality.
(44-50 points ) You are Dexter:
You are smart and definitely a thinker. Every situation is fronted with a plan. You have a brilliant mind. You demonstrate very strong family principles.You maintain a stable routine but never ignore a bad situation when it comes. Try to do less over thinking every once in a while to spice things up a bit with spontaneity.
 
Now don’t spoil it! Have some fun! Change the subject of the e-mail to the name of your cartoon character and send it on.

One of the things I remember from my childhood, is reading the comic strips of Charles M. Shultz. The Peanuts strip. I read them in the paper, I read them in book form. At one point I even had a Snoopy dressed in a space suit. To this day I will occasionally pick up and re-read one of the books I have, or put in a video of one of the seasonal specials. My wife and I had both liked the Peanuts Characters. And now, I assume my children like them too.

Today with family I saw a theater production of “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown”. This is the second time I saw this show. The first was over 25 years ago when I was in College. My roommate played the part of Snoopy. Seeing this show with my youngest daughter, my dear wife’s parents and sister, and a young niece was a trip to the past for me.

For those of you who don’t know the show, it is a full musical filled interspersed with “panels” almost straight from the funny pages. Of the show I saw 25 years ago, the only thing I could remember was the “Suppertime” song that Snoopy sang. My roommate was blessed with a very fine singing voice, and wonderful acting ability. He was one human who could make you believe he was a dog. Not just any dog, but the one and only WWI flying Ace beagle. The Snoopy of today’s show at the point of “Suppertime” had me re-living that one short segment of my life. Good memories.

As good as the show was, the best part was seeing and being with family. My In-laws are some of the best people I know. Not always perfect, but who is? For my children reading this, of course I know who is perfect. That was a rhetorical question. Back to the family… In the years after my wife’s death, I have come to appreciate the good relationship that I developed with them over the years. So many times people treat there spouses family as outsiders. I tried to treat my wife’s family as my own, and I hope they treat me the same. When I got married so many years ago, my wife and I decided that we would accept both families as our own. That didn’t mean there was always smooth sailing. There were many “disagreements” between various members, but I bicker with my natural family, why should the same go on with the in-law side. The point here is that even today, four years after the death of a wife, daughter, sister, and aunt they are still my family, and that my friends is something to be happy about.

Going waaaaaay off on a tangent, I believe that my first acting gig was in the first grade as a balloon salesman who had one line: “Balloons for sale! BALLOONS FOR SALE!!! Red and YELLOW AAND GREEN BALLOONS!!!” And the finale was a ditty entitled “H-A-double P-I-N-E-double S.” But that is not what this post is about.

Friday evening I had the opportunity to take my four-year-old niece to see a production of You’re a Food (Er… GOOD… sorry) Man Charlie Brown. Happily, she was a very good audience member.

The musical is a fun vignette of scenes featuring the main characters of Charles Schultz immortal comic strip “Peanuts.” We have the siblings Lucy and Linus; the Beethoven fanatic Schroeder; little Sally; and of course the well meaning, though perpetually insecure title character. However, the star of the show is the scene-stealing beagle, Snoopy. Whenever the canine is on stage, the action seemed much more alive, energetic, and fun. Whether he was aboard his trusty Sopwith Camel as the World War I flying ace in search of the dasterdly Red Baron, simply chasing rabbits, or singing the praises of his favorite time of day: “Suppertime,” the actor totally exemplified the exuberance of Joe Cool.

Another fun scene is “Book Report” in which Charlie Brown, Lucy, Schroeder, and Linus all attempt to compose a report on Beatrix Potter’s classic story “Peter Rabbit.” Each character at times in solo and at other times in a quartet, gives voice to the words they are formulating on paper.

The set of the show was also very well imagined. The trees, doghouse, fence, big comfy couch, etc. were all constructed in such a way that the comic strip was brought to brilliant life. While in the dogfight (HAHAHA) with the Red Baron, Snoopy’s giant doghouse actually moved up and down just enough to give the illusion of flight. The only thing missing, according to the critical eye of a four-year-old, was the sun and clouds.

You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown is a fun show for all ages. Although I was not sure how a young girl would act during the performance, I was actually glad that I was able to take her.

It may cost more nowadays to play a song on a jukebox (think the last time I played one it cost a quarter). Which brings me to another trend in musical theatre of the past few years: the jukebox musical. These are shows which include songs from artists from other genres: country, pop, rock and roll, etc. Music from artists such as Elvis Presley, Billy Joel, Patsy Cline, Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons, the Beach Boys,  and Johnny Cash have each had their music be the focal point of stage shows. Smokey Joe’s Cafe was a Broadway hit which brought the Mike Stoller and Jerry Lieber songbook to the stage. Songs such as “Jailhouse Rock,” “Yakety Yak,” “Charlie Brown,” and 36 others are the focal point of the musical revue.

An attempt was made to set the tunes of Elvis Presley to an original story. All Shook Up probably would have done better if it had something to do with the king of rock and roll or at least staged one of his better movies (many of which are better left forgotten).

Perhaps the best known jukebox musical is Jersey Boys. The turbulent history of the 1960s pop music group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons is told through many of its greatest hits (“Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Sherry,” “Walk Like A Man,” and several others. Jersey Boys was the recipient of four 2006 Tony Awards; is still playing strong at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway; and has touring companies throughout the U.S. and other countries, including Australia.

So…. the next time you are playing a game and the question is asked; “What kind of music makes you want to get up and sing?” be careful. Broadway music may now have more than one meaning.