THE JAMES DOWNING THEATRE

In this heart-warming musical based on Charles M. Schultz’s “Peanuts” comic strip, you will see Charlie Brown come to life with pals Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, Sally, and Snoopy as they face the challenges of life, kites, and ball games. This is just an average day in the life of Charlie Brown as he tries to win the heart of the Little Red-Haired girl. Will they finally come to terms with what Happiness is?

The musical, with book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt, broke all records with a run of more than 41 years off-Broadway, between 1960 and 2002, and was revived almost immediately for Broadway. A timeless tale of young love, feuding families and the challenges of growing gardens and growing up, the show features a memorable score, from “Soon It’s Gonna Rain” to “Try to Remember.”

The tool of drama has the power to lance, heal, and cleanse the soul. BANG BANG YOU’RE DEAD might not be the answer to gun violence by teenagers in our schools. But this play may lead to a discussion, an insight, a revelation that may lead to an answer. There is a hope that our awakened senses or heightened consciousness might see the tragedy before it happens. It is a slim hope, but it is all we have at this time.

The enduring comedy classic, ARSENIC & OLD LACE is farcical genius. Poor Mortimer Brewster, a theatre-hating drama critic who must deal with his crazy, homicidal family and local police in Brooklyn, New York, while he debates whether to go through with his recent promise to marry the woman he loves. Meanwhile his sweet spinster aunts have taken to murdering lonely old men by poisoning them with a glass of home-made elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine, and "just a pinch" of cyanide. Add a sweet brother who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt and another brother who’s not so nice and is running from the law with his alcoholic accomplice, Dr. Einstein, and you’ve got one unforgettable show!

FOREVER PLAID centers on four young, eager male singers killed in a car crash in the 1950s on the way to their first big concert, and now miraculously revived for the posthumous chance to fulfill their dreams and perform the show that never was. Singing in the closest of harmony, squabbling boyishly over the smallest intonations and executing their charmingly outlandish choreography with over-zealous precision, the “Plaids” are a guaranteed smash, with a program of beloved songs and delightful patter that keeps audiences rolling in the aisles when they're not humming along to some of the great nostalgic pop hits of the '50s, including Catch a Falling Star, Day-O, Sixteen Tons & Love is a Many Splendored Thing.