New show artwork!!!!

The general reaction I get whenever I pitch my play is a satisfying one: laughter.  Laughter, soon after followed with questions: “Why Charlie Brown?”  “And, why Charlie Brown as a born-again Christian?”

That America seems to have gotten way more religious over the last 10 years isn’t a secret.  But, I didn’t write this script to make any kind of a statement on religion.  I have my own opinions about it, but I wasn’t interested in beating them over anybody’s head.  I’m more interested in how a person’s faith (in anything, actually) is so vehemently tested these days by buying power.  Think about the revenue that a niche audience can generate for an industry: book sales, movie sales, downloads, travel packages, apparel, merchandise – even elections.  One thing that’s become very apparent to me is that you can get anybody to buy anything if they believe in the message; and, it gets scary when they think that you’re only a part of something by spending money on it.  So where does that leave the faithful?  The people who actually are doing the work because of the message, and not looking for an easy answer?  That’s the story I was more interested in telling.

My original idea was to write a comedy about cult mentality.  Then, due to some circumstances around CBA’s first public reading in December 2011, I got to thinking about 2012, the end of the world, Doomsday, blah, blah, blah.  It then became: “What if I wrote a holiday special with kids about The Apocalypse?  It could be just like Charlie Brown Christmas.”  Then, a good friend of mine who is now a successful TV writer gave me a piece of advice that sealed it: “Dude, if you’re going to base is on Charlie Brown, don’t be coy – own it.”  And the rest is pretty much history…

Wanna know how it all turned out?  You’ll have to swing by The Tank Theater on March 22^nd at 7:30 p.m. to see for yourself. 

-Matt Fried

A Charlie Brown Apocalypse?  Wait, what is this show?
It’s a great new comedy, loosely based on A Charlie Brown Christmas.  In it, the entire Peanuts gang are re-imagined as born-again Christians waiting for the Apocalypse.

Huh, that sounds pretty funny.  Who wrote it?

Some guy named Matt Fried.  He’s the former host of The Matt Fried Hour and the video podcast,Sleeping In with Matt Fried.  He’s done a ton of improv and comedy writing at The Peoples Improv Theater, UCB, and iO in Chicago.  

Yeah, the name sounds familiar.  Anybody else I might’ve heard of in it?

Paul Valenti of The Chris and Paul Show, the INNY-nominated, Edinburgh Fringe Festival-honored sketch comedy group, is directing it.  He’s very funny.

Yeah!  I love Chris and Paul!  Who else???

Phil Casale, JessAnn Smith, Mark Stetson, Lyssa Mandel, Jodi Jett, Toby Knops, Josh Hurley, Megrez Mosher, and Adam Hamway to boot!

I like this more and more.  When and where can I see it?

We open Thursday, March 22nd at 7:30 p.m. at The Tank Theater in New York City.  Then, in April, the show moves to The Kraine Theater for a run on April 10th, 17th, and 24th, all at 8:00 p.m.  All shows at $5.

$5?!?!?  What’s the catch?

No catch.  This is a show we want as many people to see as possible, and it’s so hard to not be broke in New York.  So, we the producers thought: “Let’s give them this great show for $5, PLUS more prizes for our audience.”

There’s more?!?!?  What???

You’ll have to come and see the show for yourself.  Only $5 will get you a ticket, a special gift, and a great show.  What more could you want?

In the new Jesus Christ Superstar, everybody’s shirtless and ripped.

You don’t want to see anybody with their shirt off in this show.  Believe me.  And don’t ask Matt Fried to do, because he will and then he’ll never put it back on.

Hey there fanboys, got some pics from our week of rehearsal for A Charlie Brown Apocalypse. Sorry for the blur and wash-out factor, didn’t have my SLR on me.

Hi guys.  Thanks for swinging by the Tumblr of A Charlie Brown Apocalypse.  As you can see, we’re still getting some things off the ground here at HQ, but be prepared!  We’ll be using this space to talk to our fans about shows, rehearsals, share photos and videos from our cast and crew, and hey - we might even give away some free stuff.  But only if you’re extra pious.

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