Gwen Levey

Sophomore Deanna Gowland plays snoopy in the Spring musical production held this year.

The show will go on.

The AHS theatre arts department is hosting its annual spring musical “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” on April 11, 12 and 13 at 7 p.m. Tickets are being sold for $8 during lunches and $10 at the door, with the first day being free.

“This show is going to be wonderful,” theatre arts teacher George Bennett said. “We have put a lot of effort into this musical and we need everyone to come see our show.”

Though the cast expects the show to be successful, it did suffer a major setback, with the lead, junior James Barker, falling ill at the beginning of this week, making him unable to perform in the musical. Senior Andy Riddle is now playing the part of Charlie Brown, and will have to master the lead role in a matter of a few days before the production is to be put on.

“It’s really difficult to be able to learn this many lines in just two days, but I am definitely doing this for James and I’m going to do my best,” Riddle said. “I pretty much know all of the songs that Charlie [Brown] sings in the show since I’ve done a lot of them for Broadway Desserts, but it’s mainly going to be about learning the dialogue he has.”

Debate arose about whether the theatre department should have pushed back the show dates. However, the final resolution was to keep the original dates, because around 70-80 Cappies, known as high school theatre critics, will be attending the Saturday evening show. The Cappies are known as the awards program for high school theatre productions, where AHS could possibly be nominated for awards as they have been in previous years.

“Despite the setback with the illness in the cast, ‘Charlie Brown’ is still going headstrong and will be awesome, senior Harris Fitzgerel said, who will be playing Linus in the production. “It’s a very light and fun hearted musical and people should come and see it.”

The theatre department has the opportunity of choosing one production each year for the Cappies to come and judge. This is the first time that the spring musical has been chosen.

“We are so confident with this show and that is why we chose this musical to be our representative for the Cappies,” Bennett said. “I know that all of the students involved with the musical are going to do a great job and we will make sure that the show does go on.”

The turnout for the show is crucial to the treasury of the theatre department. Two years ago, the production “Grease” was held, which ended up making a substantial amount of money. However, the theatre department’s funds were setback when last year’s show, “Little Shop of Horrors,” was not as successful financially. The cast and crew of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” hope that a large audience will turn out in support of their hard work.