Happiness is … a “Peanuts” musical

Fire up the Sopwith Camel and watch out for that kite-eating tree: it’s time to spend an evening at Greenhills with the Peanuts gang.

This year’s Middle School musical performance of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” will reacquaint the audience with favorite Charles M. Schulz characters Schroeder and Lucy, Linus and Peppermint Patty, Snoopy and Woodstock, and of course Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts crew.

Shows start at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Campbell Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $8 for students and seniors and $12 for the general public.

“Charlie Brown” director and theater teacher Laura Bird said the show is ideal for production by Middle School students, who learn about much more than music and acting through their participation.

“They’re learning social skills, teamwork, how to take risks and even to be OK with some mistakes,” Bird said. “For some kids, theater is a place that just feels like home and family.”

Rehearsals for “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” began shortly after the school year started, and the 50-odd members of the cast and tech crew have been hard at work ever since. All of the cast and a large majority of the crew are Middle School students, said Emily Wilson-Tobin, another drama teacher who helped with the production.

The production is one of three on tap at Greenhills this year. The Upper School will present Bertolt Brecht’s “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” beginning Nov. 22, while in March the Upper School will present the Stephen Sondheim musical “Into the Woods.”