Ericka Forsberg comes to the music director role for BrickStreet Theatre’s You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown with specific experience. In fact, she’s filled the role before. After graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in music from the University of Northwestern in St. Paul, Forsberg was music director for the same show at St. Anthony Village High School in St. Anthony, Minn.
Rather than high schoolers, BrickStreet’s upcoming show gives Forsberg the chance to work with adults cast as some of our culture’s most famous children: Sally, Linus, Schroeder, Lucy, and, of course, Snoopy and Charlie Brown.
“Adults have developed more confidence and have more performance experience, which requires less direction,” she said. “Yet, they can still capture childlike exuberance and joy.”
The Charlie Brown cast, with director Julie Keely, is excited to be bringing the first musical to life in the space that BrickStreet now calls home. The non-profit moved there in October 2021 and now produces its smaller spring and fall shows there.
“It [the new space] has its challenges, but it’s fun to be using the space in a new way,” said Forsberg who is part of the Waldorf University voice faculty. She also gives piano lessons to area students and is grateful for performers who are flexible and eager to learn.
It helps that Forsberg understands music and theatre as a performer herself. Most recently, she portrayed Ivy Weston in BrickStreet’s August: Osage County. At the University of Northwestern, she appeared in Shadowlands, The Cherry Orchard, and Little Women. She has also performed the role of Carmen for DePaul Opera Theatre in Chicago and sang with the Minnesota Opera. You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown gives her the opportunity to show how songs written from a child’s perspective can be profound.
She notes that Charlie Brown has always been part of her family’s Christmas tradition, especially Linus’s speech. “He may be a child, but his speech shares what Christmas is about.”
In this musical, six of the Peanuts Gang’s most beloved characters explore life’s great questions as they play baseball, struggle with homework, swoon over their crushes, and celebrate the joy of friendship. The show’s storyline and upbeat, memorable songs were written by Clark Gesner in 1966 and performed on Broadway the following year. Kristin Chenoweth won the Tony Award for best actress when she was Sally Brown for the show’s revival in 1999.
BrickStreet’s performances run Sept. 15-17, 22-24, with the curtain opening at 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays at 1305 Hwy 69 South in Forest City. Tickets are available at www.brickstreettheatre.org or at the door, if available.
