M*A*S*H-ish 12: “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”

In addition to M*A*S*H, another fandom I have followed since I was a kid is Charles Shultz’s Peanuts comic strip, tv specials, and products. I have always liked the characters and the serialization of the comic strip itself. In 1967, a new Off-Broadway musical debuted titled You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The musical follows Charlie Brown and his friends from the popular comic strip. You are probably wondering what a Peanuts musical has to do with M*A*S*H, and the answer may surprise you. The connection is Gary Burghoff. He was the original Charlie Brown in the musical in both New York and Los Angeles, although he did have to take a break to star in Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H in 1969. This week, I will briefly tell the story of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and look at some original items from the production.

The musical debuted in March 1967 at Theatre 80 in New York City. Burghoff was the original Charlie Brown, and he was featured in the playbill and souvenir booklet. You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown would run for nearly 1,600 performances in New York City, although, they were not all with the original cast. Burghoff also played Charlie Brown when the musical premiered in Los Angeles at the Ivar Theatre in 1968. The original cast stayed together for a while, and even recorded a soundtrack that was released by MGM Records. Burghoff does sing on this record as Charlie Brown. The musical would have a life of its own. It would later appear for a short time on Broadway, tour the country, have versions in Canada and on the West End in London, and other productions across the United States. The musical was a success! You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown was revived several times over the years with productions in 1998, 1999, and 2016. The musical was also adapted as an animated cartoon of the same name in 1985. While Burghoff wasn’t in the revived versions of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, he was the original Charlie Brown, and as he discussed in his memoir, it was one of his first real acting jobs after acting school and helped launch his acting career.

New York and Los Angeles Playbills

When I attend a play, I always get a copy of the playbill because it gives all the credits to the actors and production crew. For You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, I have playbills for the original Off-Broadway production of the musical and the production in Los Angeles. Both feature a biography of Burghoff, along with the rest of the cast. His biography in the Los Angeles playbill is particularly interesting because it discusses his success following the debut of the musical in 1967. He had made appearances on television, but this was before his big acting break in the M*A*S*H film as Radar O’Reilly. Of course, he would later go on to reprise his role of Radar in the M*A*S*H series for just over seven seasons. I like looking at these playbills because if Burghoff were to do a play today, there would likely be several mentions of M*A*S*H, but this was before Radar, so it is good to see Burghoff getting credit for acting in something other than M*A*S*H.

Souvenir Booklet

The You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown souvenir booklet was released after the musical had garnered international success. The booklet features artwork by Shultz of the Peanuts characters, and it features photos of the casts from New York, London, San Francisco, Boston, and Los Angeles. Burghoff was a part of the casts in both New York and Los Angeles. While this booklet isn’t dated, I believe that it must have been published before M*A*S*H because there is no mention of Burghoff being in the feature film or series.

Music Book

You can’t have a musical without the music! The music was published and sold so it could be performed by independent theaters and school groups. I know from family members that a local high school put on a production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown in the 1970s, so the musical was definitely popular. The music book included everything you’d need to perform the music including the lyrics and accompaniment. As I mentioned earlier, a recording of the original cast was also released by MGM Records, and the amount of materials available for this musical demonstrates just how popular it became.

When Peanuts debuted in 1950, I am sure Shultz had no idea what a cultural force the comic strip would become. Animated television specials, advertisements, Hallmark greeting cards, toys, watches, and Broadway musicals, the Peanuts characters were everywhere by the late 1960s. The music for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown was composed and written by Clark Gesner, and it helped launch his career, although none of his other works would match the musical’s popularity. But You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown also helped launch the career of a young Gary Burghoff and would match his talents for acting and music. I think it would be hard to imagine the character of Radar being portrayed by anyone but Burghoff, and in a roundabout way, we have Charlie Brown to thank for him getting the role because of the recognition he garnered for playing the part in the musical. Charlie Brown, like Burghoff, is indeed a good man.