The fall season is here, and so is a new play at Cathedral Catholic. This season’s theatrical offering is You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and is featured around campus on flyers publicizing the showings. The cast, crew members, and Ms. Katie Wilson, the drama teacher at Cathedral and the play’s director, are thrilled to perform and present one of America’s most popular musical comedies.

Ms. Wilson expressed her excitement about the upcoming play. “Charlie Brown is going to surprise a lot of people. Most people are expecting a show like The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, which is considered to be childish. There are characters you know and love, but there is so much more, because people of all ages will identify with Charlie Brown’s struggles.”

Cathedral junior Delaney Grazier, who plays Marcie in the play, said, “It is going to be a great show, and it will be fun for the whole family! The music is so catchy. We have a live professional band doing the music for the show, too.”

All of the actors and actresses performing in the play are Cathedral students. Two of the many soon-to-be graduates of the Dons family, seniors Justin Haupt and Tina LaMar, share their feelings about what it is like to be actors and actresses. Justin, who plays Snoopy, said “the best part about acting is connecting personal experiences and emotions to the situations of the character you are playing. I love when the scenes and roles start coming together, and the show’s flow starts to take form. It is an exhilarating feeling to help tell a story totally different than your own and, hopefully, with a universal lesson for everyone to take with them.”

Tina, who plays Peppermint Patty, said, “I look forward to sharing with the audience a story they can connect to and enjoy.” The people involved in making the school play a success are waiting excitedly for the moment when the curtain opens to reveal the first scene in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

Ms. Wilson completes the challenging task of finding a theme for the fall play. She said, “I look at what our school population is and find shows people might be interested in seeing. I find messages that I feel our student body could grow from and learn from because we want to transform peoples’ lives. I think about what we have done in previous years to avoid doing shows that are too similar. ”

The last step in finding the play’s theme is securing performance rights from the creators or authors of the novel or cartoon behind the play. Ms. Wilson said, “I find out if the performance rights are available. I have to send a letter with request dates, times and the money being charged [to hopefully obtain the play rights]. It’s required to pay royalty fees, too. Two years ago, I tried to secure Beauty and the Beast, but I couldn’t get it.”

Ms. Wilson did manage to secure the rights to this fall’s play, and anticipates its upcoming debut. “Charlie says there is hope,” she said. “I’m excited for people to see that message come to life on the stage.”

The first showing of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” is on Friday, November 14^th at 7:00 p.m. in the Guadalupe Center. Additional showtimes are Saturday, November 15 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., and Sunday, November 16 at 1:00 p.m. Buy your tickets  here, but hurry, because they run out fast!