Sunday Showtunes

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday’s theme  was "adults playing children day." 

For the matinee I saw “DOG SEES GOD” - the title of which will be explained later, but a clue is given in the subtitle:  "CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGED BLOCKHEAD."  This was the first of my two non-musical plays, a new one that had just opened a couple of weeks earlier.  It is in the back-story tradition of "Wicked" (or in this case, a ‘front-story’) and the spoof-a-children's-work trend begun with "Avenue Q".  It imagines the Peanuts gang (the Charles Schultz cartoon strip) about 10 years older - as horny and troubled teens in high school.  The play starred Eddie Kaye Thomas (the guy from the American Pie movies, but not the guy that had carnal knowledge of a pie) and a bunch of young and attractive B-list TV “stars” that no one has really heard of. 

It is not authorized by Schultz (just as "Avenue Q" was not authorized by the Jim Henson people) and the characters are given rather coded names:  “CB,” “CB’s Sister,” “Van” (as in Linus VAN Pelt), “Matt” (Pig Pen), “Beethoven” (Schroeder), “Tricia” (as in Patricia as in Peppermint Patty), “Marcy” (inexplicably not coded), and “Van’s Sister” (as in Lucy).   However, it is clear that they are the Peanuts gang, and much comedy is mined from lines and bits that refer to the comic strip and TV specials.  (One huge laugh comes when the gang throws a rave - with this heavy grunge music - yet everyone dances exactly like the famous dance scene in "A Charlie Brown Christmas"!)  The pre-show scrim is a beautifully lit and painted drawing of Snoopy's doghouse against a blue sky.  This and CB's costume (khaki shorts and a yellow t-shirt with an oversquiggly line around the belly) are the only visuals that give away the Peanuts concept. 

The show opens with a monologue which explains the title:  CB writing a letter to his pen pal  (who has never written him back, but CB says he is fine with just getting stuff off his chest) that his dog just died.  Seems he went mad with rabies and in a violent fit tore apart a certain yellow bird he used to hang around with.  So he was put down.  The name "Snoopy" is  never mentioned in the play, but the logo for the show shows a beagle winging up to heaven.  (The title is also explained later in dialogue where someone tells CB a quote that says "a dog sees God in his master - while cats just look in the mirror.")  Eddie Kaye Thomas delivers the Snoopy death monologue as if it's truly tearing him up, yet it's also funny, so we the audience don't really know whether to laugh or be sorry for him.  This line between drama and comedy is ridden throughout the play and establishes a motif of sorts.   It's a dark comedy, and often profane and sexual. 

Here's what has happened to our beloved gang:  CB is pretty much as neurotic as before.  The group has estranged Beethoven (Schroeder), who has turned into a nerdy sissy and is now beaten up by Van, CB, and Matt (and others) because they think he's gay (he's called "fag" a lot); Beethoven now spends his lunch hours in the music room practicing the piano because he is too scared to go into the cafeteria.  Matt (Pigpen) is now a germophobe, but he has channeled his dirtiness into sex addiction and an obsession with getting laid.  Marcy and Trish (Peppermint Patty) are self-obsessed "valley girls" who may or may not be lipstick lesbians.  Van's Sister (Lucy) is locked up in an insane asylum for setting the Little Redheaded Girl's hair on fire.  CB's Sister (Sally) is an alienated youth who is seeking a new identity each week - when we first meet her, it's as a Wiccan goth priestess. 

Warning: There are plot spoilers ahead, including a surprise about the hottest stage kiss of the season" according to one critic.  Don't read further if you don't want to know the plot. But who are you kidding – when will you ever see “Dog Sees God”????

After "Snoopy's" funeral, at which no one shows up except CB’s sister, CB begins to examine how the gang has drifted in different directions and seeks out Beethoven to apologized to him on behalf of the bullies at the school, himself included.  He offers an olive branch of friendship, confessing that even though they haven't been best friends since childhood, he misses him.  Trying to cheer Beethoven up, CB begins to play the bottom part of "Heart and Soul" on the piano, trying to get him to join in, which he reluctantly does.  Suddenly and without warning, CB turns and kisses Schroeder passionately!  The two wind up as lovers. (As "Lucy" later puts it when she learns the news: "Oh My God - You're a Homo, Charlie Brown!!!!")  The rest of the story concerns how the gang deals with this news.  Matt in particular doesn't take the news well - which leads to some speculation as to just exactly why he is so angry about his friend falling in love with Beethoven. 

After a number of hilarious and dramatic (and occasionally violent) events, the play ends with another monologue, delivered by CB and the whole cast:  CB's pen pal finally writes him back, for the first time ever.  He accounts how even though he has never written before, he has been keeping an eye on the gang as they grow up, he  is proud of CB and the whole gang, thinks about them all the time, and will always have a place in his heart full of love for CB - telling CB that he is a "good man."  It is signed:  "C.S."  It is a very poignant ending.  "Dog Sees God" is a great play, one that I have been thinking about a lot since I saw it.  It's clever and both funny and dramatic (as well as very entertaining) and everyone's performances were great.  However, I can't see it being done in community theatre  without offending the blue hairs - I think it will probably be done mostly by college theatre. 

KSHO broadcasts to the Mid-Willamette Valley in Western Oregon.
Among the communities served are Albany, Corvallis, and Lebanon.