You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown Interview with Andres Marrufo & Nathan de Laet
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hoenix Christian put on Charlie Brown, the musical earlier this spring. The last musical production at PC took place well over five years ago. The production left the audience speechless. Although we knew the level of amazing talent our students have, we had no idea that our two young directors could create such a heart-warming, gut wrenching, and amusing show. I had a chance to sit down recently with Andres Marrufo (Voice Director) and Nathan de Laet (Acting Director) to talk about the musical.
“...we had no idea that our two young directors could create such a heartwarming, gut wrenching, and amusing show.”
I asked Nathan and Andy who had the idea to add a musical to the Fine Arts program this year. Nathan quickly jumped in and gave all the credit to Andy. “He had the idea, took the initiative and got the ball rolling.” Andy describe himself as an “advocate of the arts.” He believes musical theatre has its own unique attributes, the acting is much different, the performance feels much different, and of course, you sing! “So why Charlie Brown”, I asked? Nathan said they were looking to start small but wanted a show-stopper and felt Charlie Brown met that criteria. Nathan played Charlie Brown at Phoenix Christian back in 2009. Andy shared, “we decided early on that we had to do it right so we agreed to a live orchestra, no canned music!” When asked what surprised them the most they laughed! Andy said, “Opening night, we just didn’t expect it to be so good!” Nathan chimed in that he had no idea that parents were going to walk out crying because they were so moved. Nathan continued that the other surprise they had was Tia playing Lucy. He said they chose a very difficult piece for the auditions knowing that if she could nail that piece, she could definitely play Lucy. Tia stopped by after school with no intention of trying out, just curious what they were all doing. They asked her to try the piece. She asked for a few minutes so she could listen to the song on You Tube. She came back a few minutes later and nailed the song! They could not believe it and were absolutely certain they found their Lucy.
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Andy made note that they owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to Moezart Productions who donated beautiful costumes, built the set, and helped set up lighting and sound. They asked for absolutely nothing in return. Steve, the cofounder of Moezart Productions, attended the performance and gave kudos - he loved the show. I asked the two what it was like working together for the first time and they laughed again. They self-admittedly recognized that Nathan is a pessimist and Andy an optimist which turned out to be a sweet balance. These two seemed to have such a great chemistry and truly spurred each other on to create something amazing. When I asked what’s next, they exchanged glances. Andy said, “We want to surprise you!” We anticipate another great show next year and live in expectation of God’s recreating hand in our Fine Arts program at Phoenix Christian.
