On Musicals, Cont'd.

One of my favorite musicals--and a show I'm so excited to present to my son--is "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Some thoughts:

*This isn't really a conventional musical. There's no "I Want" song. Characters do not (consistently) lean on music in times of great emotion. You don't get a big solo from the star.

*Still, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" uses music, and it tells a story, so I'm putting it in the "musical" category.

*ACBC concerns depression. Charlie Brown can't "get happy" in the Christmas season because everything has "gone commercial." Lucy, Charlie's shrink, diagnoses Charlie and offers advice: "Get involved. Become part of the stream of life." To do this, Charlie directs the local Christmas play. A catastrophic idea, everyone is consumed with ego and distracted, etc. Despairing, Charlie asks the resident philosopher, Linus, to remind him what Christmas is all about. And we get the story of "the birth," with its attendant "good tidings of great joy," "peace on Earth," and "good will toward men."

*Moved by the story--paired with that memorable child's voice--Charlie's friends decide to be less obnoxious. They reconcile with Charlie and sing "Hark the Herald Angels....," which closely echoes Linus's speech: "peace on Earth," "joyful all ye nations," "God and sinners reconciled."

*The story ends here. Everyone will be a bit kinder to one another, at least briefly. "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown."

*I'm eager to show this movie because I like how sad it is. Even "Christmastime Is Here" is a weirdly melancholy tune. I also endorse the "message" in the musical--life is difficult, and we can try to be as pleasant as possible--and I appreciate that things never get very saccharine.

*Though I don't think the story has ever made it to Broadway, again, "ACB Christmas" ranks among my favorite moments in musical-theater history, and I'm counting down the months till December...

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