Based on the Charles Schultz' popular comic strip, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown chronicles the events in a day in the life of Charlie Brown and his imaginative beagle Snoopy. Originally, composer/lyricist/librettist Clark Gesner had no intentions of turning his "Peanuts" songs into a stage musical, that is until producer Arthur Whitelaw convinced him to work up a theatrical version which they presented at a tiny East Village theatre where it remained for four years.

You're A Good Man, Charlie Brownd at the Theatre 80 St. Marks on March 7, 1967 with a cast that featured Bill Hinnant (Snoopy), Gary Burghoff (Charlie Brown), Reva Rose (Lucy), Karen Johnson (Patty), Bob Balaban (Linus), and Skip Hinnant (Schroeder). The production lasted 1597 performances and spawned six touring companies between 1967 and 1971. A major Broadway revival in 1999 added two new songs ("My Philosophy" and "Beethoven Day") and featured 23 new vignettes written by "Peanuts" creator Charles Schultz. Although this production didn't last long, it did win Tony Awards for two of its stars: Roger Bart (Snoopy) and Kristin Chenoweth (Sally--who didn't even exist until director Michael Mayer got his hands on the Clark Gesner musical!)