Musical review: Snoopy the musical

Published on Thursday 13 August 2009 19:08

SNOOPY!!! THE MUSICAL THE SPACE@VENUE 45 (VENUE 45)

SET the world's most successful newspaper strip to music and what do you get? Something that looks like a children's show, but isn't. For the philosophies Charles M Schulz put into Peanuts aren't kids' stuff – they're best appreciated by anyone who has lived long enough to recognise that life's not a bowl of cherries, more an American football pulled away as you run to kick it, or a kite-eating tree, which explains why most of the audience are adults.

Larry Grossman and Hal Hackady's charming songs are splendidly delivered by a lively young cast. Watch for Chris Earley's poignant but hopeful Charlie Brown, Henry Richardson's deluded Linus and Rhiannon Douty's vulnerable Peppermint Patty. Angus McPhee's Snoopy is as cool as you could wish while Lucy Williams, with her wild hair and engaging dancing, actually makes Woodstock likeable.

There were one or two flubbed lines when I went, and some sequences were undersold – particularly Sally Brown's classic coathanger sculpture speech, the ending of which was spat out without us actually hearing her new grade. Some of the costumes could have been more like the cartoon versions – the gang wore the same outfits for 50 years so, by cracky, I expect a blonde Sally in a spotty dress. But for Peanuts fans, this is a wonderful diversion.

Until 21 August. Today 10:35am.