“Curse you, Red Baron!”
I will play Snoopy in BRAVO! Theater’s production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” which opens Thursday, November 14.
Even though I auditioned to play Charlie Brown, I quickly fell in love with my character. “Well, duh!” friends who know me too well have told me, rolling their eyes. Not only is Snoopy a really fun part in a wildly entertaining play, but it requires an immense amount of hamming it up; and, well, “Over-Acting” is my middle name. I was born to play Snoopy.
In more ways than I’d imagined. As I have struggled to learn my songs, attempting to hit and hold notes that I never imagined I would ever try to sing, my deep-seated, carefully repressed insecurities have resurfaced with a vengeance. In short, I’ve been really anxious. No … terrified!
Which, as I’ve come to understand, is the perfect emotion for me to feel as I undertake Snoopy. You see, he, as well as all of the characters in the play, is terribly, charmingly insecure.
For example, with my very first line, I join with the other characters in ridiculing Charlie Brown. “It is truly a dog’s life ... You try acting excited when that round-headed kid comes home from school.” Why would I betray Charlie like that? Aren’t I supposed to be his best friend?
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