Carstairs Considers....: Music Review: Snoopy - the Musical

Monday, June 17, 2013

Music Review: Snoopy - the Musical - 1983 London Cast

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Most of the tracks are lots of fun

Cons: A few are overly sad.

The Bottom Line:
More Peanuts music

Most of these songs are so fun

Must for fans of strip

Lesser Known but Still a Fun Soundtrack

If you ask someone to name a musical based on the comic strip Peanuts, you'll immediately hear about You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. But there was a follow up called Snoopy: The Musical. While not quite as good as the first one, there are still lots of fun songs here.

I have never seen the actual play, but only because I've never had a chance. I did see the hour long animated version they made in the 80's, and this one follows the format of the original. Basically, this is a day in the life kind of play where each scene is something different and doesn't really tell one complete story. The songs reflect this, and each one stands on its own. That makes the soundtrack very accessible to anyone.

As far as I can tell, there are two recordings of the soundtrack. There is one from a San Francisco cast, but it doesn't appear to be complete. I've also heard that the voices are annoying, but since I haven't listened to it, I can't comment. Based on that information, I bought this disc, the Original London Cast. I was worried that the British accents might bother me since these are supposed to be the Peanuts kids, but honestly I don't notice it at all except a couple of times when the characters are talking.

Ironically enough since this is named Snoopy: The Musical, most of the songs about Snoopy or that he sings aren't really my favorites. For example, the first song, "The World According to Snoopy" is okay but pretty much only because it is the intro. "Snoopy's Song" isn't much better as he complains about his life.

I love Peanuts, so I realize there has always been an undercurrent of sadness to the strip. However, a couple of Snoopy's songs go far beyond that. "Mother's Day" is about how Snoopy misses his mom and how he'd love to be back with her. There are all kinds of things that are supposed to be funny in here about how Snoopy knows how much his mom loved him because she made sure he got picked by a family before his brothers. Sorry, but I don't find it that funny. Likewise, his longing to return to "Daisy Hill" because his life was better there doesn't resonate well with me.

On the other hand, some of his other songs are pretty good. "The Big Bow-Wow" is a fun showstopper about how he's going to be the most famous dog. It has lots of references to other famous dogs, too. But my favorite of his songs is "The Great Writer." I've always loved Snoopy's failed writing career, and this is a classic bad story as he sets out to write a novel that makes absolutely no sense. He even thinks hard over his opening line before arriving at "It was a dark and stormy night." This song has lots of talking/singing for the story, but there is a chorus that Snoopy does sing.

Almost all of the rest of the 20 tracks on this CD are great. The rest of the cast consists of Charlie Brown and Linus for the guys and Lucy, Sally, and Peppermint Patty on the women's side. Very few of them get solos, so it's a bit of a surprise that Peppermint patty gets two. "Hurry Up Face" is about her desire to appear more mature. But I absolutely love "Poor Sweet Baby." It's a hauntingly beautiful song she sings to Charlie Brown after he confesses his desire to be married to someone who would comfort him by calling him poor sweet baby. Charlie Brown's big solo is "Where Did that Little Dog Go?" Here, he sings about how Snoopy doesn't seem to need him like he did as a puppy.

But my favorite of the rest of the cast solos is "The Vigil." This song finds Linus waiting very impatiently for The Great Pumpkin to show up in the pumpkin patch. It's upbeat tempo really gets his impatience across, and I can't help but laugh as he keeps talking himself to waiting longer and longer.

And there are plenty of songs for groups of some kind. For example, the three ladies sing "I Know Now" about all the wisdom they have learned in their life. They start out slowly a cappella, but then the orchestra comes in and the tempo picks up.

Then there's "Edgar Allen Poe" which finds the kids worried about having to answer questions about the famous writer in class when they aren't prepared. Well, Linus is prepared, and you can learn quite a bit about the writer from this song. It's in a minor key with a very catchy melody.

"Clouds" finds the gang seeing incredible sights in the clouds floating by overhead. "When Do the Good Things Start?" features the entire cast as they figure out how they will wait for something exciting to happen. "Don't Be Anything Less Than Everything You Can Be" features lots of comparisons designed to motivate you to be better. You've got to listen carefully to all the words in this one. It's pretty funny. Finally, "Just One Person" slows things down for the final number about how encouragement from one person can grow.

The accompaniment is pretty standard Broadway here. We've got an orchestra that plays for almost all of the songs. There are three instrumental tracks as well. Most of the group numbers are fairly upbeat but the individual songs fall into the mid-tempo to slower range. There's enough variety here to keep you interested from start to finish. What's amazing is the adults manage to have childlike voices without being overly childish and annoying. They really capture their characters well.

It's a shame that Snoopy: The Musical isn't that well known. If these songs are any indication, I think I'd really like it.

Cast:

Teddy Kemdner - Snoopy

Zoe Bright - Lucy

Mark Hadfield - Linus

Susie Blake - Sally

Nicky Croydon - Peppermint Patty

Robert Locke - Charlie Brown

Anthony Best - Woodstock (To the best of my knowledge, he doesn't sing here)

CD Length: 58:40

Tracks:

1. Overture