December 5–28, 2024 | Isaac Studio Theatre
Now Playing on the Jewell Mainstage
Taproot Theatre
In This Program
- About The Play
- Company
- Taste of Show
- Lobby Gallery
- Join us for Taproot’s 50th Anniversary Season!
- Print Edition
- More About Taproot Theatre
About The Play
Playing in the Isaac Studio Theatre
A Charlie Brown Christmas
by Charles M. Schulz
Based on the television special by Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson
Stage Adaptation by Eric Schaeffer
By Special Arrangement with Arthur Whitelaw and Ruby Persson
Cast
(In order of appearance)
Lucy
Sydney Swalberg
Linus
Elijah Spreier
Sally
Rebecca Gelzer
Schroeder
Zachary Kellogg
Snoopy
Justin Jay Smith
Frieda
Tatyana Emery
Pig Pen
Dylan Anthony Macabitas
Charlie Brown
Rolando Cardona
Understudies
Sally/Frieda/Lucy/Snoopy u/s
Lizzy Bennett
Charlie Brown/Linus/Schroeder/Pig Pen u/s
Bil Nowicki
Production
Director
Melanie Godsey
Music Director
Zachary Kellogg
Choreographer
Natalie Westgor
Scenic Co-Designer
Richard Lorig
Scenic Co-Designer & Sound Designer
Mark Lund
Costume Designer
Sarah Burch Gordon
Lighting Designer
Tucker Goodman
Stage Manager
Kathryn Louise
A Charlie Brown Christmas is approximately 40 minutes with no intermission.
A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Tams-Witmark LLC. www.concordtheatricals.com
The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production and distributing recordings or streams in any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author(s)’s rights and actionable under United States copyright law. For more information, please visit: https://concordtheatricals.com/resources/protecting-artists
Company
Cast
Rolando Cardona
Charlie Brown
Rolando is ecstatic to return to the Taproot stage. Past credits include A Charlie Brown Christmas (Taproot Theatre), As You Like It (Seattle Shakespeare Company), Romeo and Juliet (Seattle Shakespeare Company), Much Ado About Nothing (Lucky Panda), and Sister Act (Taproot Theatre). Big thanks to friends, family, cast, and crew for all the fun. Enjoy the show!
Rebecca Gelzer
Sally
Rebecca is heart-warmed to return to Taproot for her third holiday season after understudying for Georgiana & Kitty and Happy Christmas, Jeeves. Since moving back to the PNW in 2023, she has had the pleasure to collaborate with Harlequin Productions for Pride and Prejudice, Artemis Theatre Project for The How and the Why, Woodinville Rep for These Shining Lives, and others. Proud Shakes & Co alum. “We make the world. Not the other way around.” Merry Christmas!
Zachary Kellogg
Schroeder & Music Director
Zachary is thrilled to make his Taproot debut! Select regional credits include Music Director/Conceiver for Broadway Holiday (Transcendence Theatre Company) and Associate Music Director for Jesus Christ Superstar (Flatrock Playhouse). Love to J! For more information, visit zacharykelloggmusic.com and @zacharykelloggmusic
Justin Jay Smith
Snoopy
Justin is thrilled to return to Taproot! Originally from Orange County, California, his recent credits include two years of touring with Taproot's Road Company, Friends Across the Wires (directed by Laura Ferri), and Hair (Renton Civic Theatre). He has also choreographed for Taproot's Summer Acting Studio Camps and Meadowdale High School's Mamma Mia. Justin is grateful for the opportunity to share this story and hopes you enjoy the show!
Elijah Spreier
Linus
Elijah is overjoyed to return to A Charlie Brown Christmas! You may have seen him perform last year as either Charlie Brown, Pig Pen, or Snoopy. Some of his other favorite credits include Fixing Einstein (Shattered Glass Project), Get Tappy (SecondStory Repertory), Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley (Taproot Theatre), and Urge (Verboom). He is also a member of Taproot’s Road Company.
Sydney Swalberg (she/they)
Lucy
Sydney is currently a core cast member of Taproot Theatre’s Road Company and is so excited to make their Taproot stage debut! Most recently, you may have seen her at Seattle Public Theater’s Stage of Fools. Some of her favorite credits include Wendy in Wendy and Peter Pan, Wednesday in The Addams Family, Little Sally in Urinetown, and Kitty in Pride and Prejudice. Sydney would like to thank her beautiful wife for all her love and support!
Understudies
Lizzy Bennett
Sally/Frieda/Lucy/Snoopy u/s
Lizzy moved to Seattle in 2022 and toured with Taproot's Road Company for two years. Lizzy also toured in 2015 and 2016 with Montana Repertory Theatre’s U.S. tour of The Great Gatsby and All My Sons. In 2017, she toured in the ensemble of Montana Repertory Theatre’s To Kill A Mockingbird in China. Her other regional Montana credits include Bozeman Actors Theatre, Verge Theater, Montana InSite Theatre, Montana TheatreWorks, and Montana Shakespeare in the Parks. She holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Montana.
Bil Nowicki
Charlie Brown/Linus/Schroeder/Pig Pen u/s
Bil is thrilled to make his Taproot debut! Recent credits include Peter Evans in Bug and The General in Lorca in a Green Dress (Tacoma Little Theatre) and Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Bil holds a BFA in Theatre from Pacific Lutheran University and continues to train and work throughout the region. Love to his community for their support.
Production
Crew
Melanie Godsey
Director
Melanie has previously assistant directed at Taproot for The Importance of Being Earnest, As It is in Heaven, and Sherlock Holmes and the Precarious Position. She has also written for Taproot’s Road Company since 2017. Her local acting credits include Taproot Theatre, Village Theatre, and Union Arts Center. She is a proud founding member of The Co-Conspirators, with whom she directed and produced her original play, SPONSORED BY THE VOID, for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this August, where it received a Critic’s Choice Award. She absolutely adores her JRMs.
Tucker Goodman
Lighting Designer
Tucker is glad to return to A Charlie Brown Christmas after lighting the 2023 and 2024 productions. At Taproot, he has also designed lighting for The Importance of Being Earnest, Murder on the Links, and Happy Christmas, Jeeves, and will be back for Till We Have Faces in January. Tucker also designed scenery for Seattle Shakespeare Company, Butler Opera Center, and Cape Fear Regional Theatre among others. He currently works as a scenic designer at Analog Heart. Thanks to Jes!
Sarah Burch Gordon
Costume Designer
Sarah is thrilled to return to the Pacific Northwest and Taproot. Favorite designs at Taproot include Persuasion, Dracula, and The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge. She has also designed for Seattle Children's Theatre and Edmonds College. Sarah is a visual artist and a teacher, and most recently worked as the Costume Director at The Atlanta Opera. She is excited to be designing Taproot's Till We Have Faces for the 50th Anniversary Season.
Richard Lorig
Scenic Co-Designer
Richard is please to continue a long creative partnership with Taproot. Some favorite scenic designs for Taproot include Jeeves Takes a Bow, The Spitfire Grill, and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. He is a freelance scenic designer and assistant professor of scenic design at Utah Valley University. You can see his work at richardlorigdesign.com. Much love to my family!
Kathryn Louise (she/her)
Stage Manager
Kathryn is a theatre magic maker who lives, works, and plays on Coast Salish land. She has previously spread happiness and cheer with A Charlie Brown Christmas as Assistant Stage Manager in 2018 and Crew Swing in 2024. Kathryn has a double BFA from the University of Montana in Theatre Design Tech and Dance, and was previously the Production Associate at Taproot from 2020–2023. In 2023, she was the co-recipient of the Helissa Hines Backstage Gregory Award. All her love to her handsome husband and cute pupper. kathryn-louise.com
Mark Lund
Scenic Co-Designer & Sound Designer
Mark recently designed Murder on the Links, Always... Patsy Cline, The Book of Will, The Hello Girls, and Black Coffee at Taproot. Other design work includes Seattle Shakespeare Company, Book-It Repertory Theatre, and award-winning short films. He has voiced many regional and national projects for T-Mobile, The North Face, the NHL, FedEx, Amazon, Super Smash Bros., and as Falco Lombardi in Starfox. Love to Karen, Hannah, and Jake.
Natalie Westgor
Choreographer
Natalie is a theater maker, dancer, and writer. She trained with Pacific Northwest Ballet, performed at the Vail International Dance Festival, and was a company member with Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre. She has choreographed for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the University of St Andrews, and Vassar College. Natalie also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of St Andrews. She is thrilled to join
this incredible creative team!
Authors
Charles M. Schulz
Charles M. Schulz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 26, 1922. His Peanuts comic strip debuted in 1950 in just seven newspapers and launched a cultural legacy. When Schulz announced his retirement in December 1999, Peanuts was syndicated in over 2,600 newspapers worldwide, with book collections translated in over 25 languages.
The recipient of two Reuben Awards from the National Cartoonists Society and inductee into the Cartoonist Hall of Fame, Schulz also scripted and storyboarded numerous television specials, earning five Emmy and two Peabody Awards. He was awarded many different honors, including the Ordre des Artes et des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture; the Lester Patrick Award (the only recipient who was not a professional hockey player); a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a Carnegie Hall-commissioned concerto by Ellen Zwilich entitled "Peanuts Gallery." Charles M. Schulz died on February 13, 2000, but his Peanuts gang continues to entertain and inspire the young and the young at heart.
Bill Melendez
Jose Cuauhtémoc (Bill) Melendez was educated in Arizona and then later at the Chouinard Art Institute, known now as CalArts. Hired by Walt Disney in 1938, Bill contributed his talents to such projects as Fantasia, Dumbo, Pinnocchio and Bambi. Bill was one of the prime movers of the Disney strike of 1941.
In 1942, Bill moved himself over to Leon Schlesinger Cartoons (AKA Warner Brothers Cartoons), and in 1948 he went to work for United Productions of America (UPA). During this period, he won over 150 awards. In 1960, works he directed won 18 awards at the American TV Commercial Festival, which only gave out 20 awards that year.
Bill founded his own production company, Bill Melendez Productions, Inc., in 1964. Besides his commercial work, Bill produced his first television special, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and received both an Emmy Award (the first of eight) and the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for Outstanding Children’s Program.
In international competition, he received an honorable mention in the 1965 Cannes International Advertising Film Festival. Bill received two dozen major foreign honors from Edinburgh, London, Annecy, Tours and Venice Festivals, finally bringing home The Venice Cup. This was the first time the United States had ever won the Cup, symbolic of overall excellence, in the festival’s history.
In addition to numerous awards and nominations for his Peanuts work, Bill won an Emmy in 1975 for Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus; an Emmy (the first awarded in the specific category of Animation) for The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, as well as an individual Emmy for authoring that show’s script.
Bill Melendez Productions was the first to animate Jim Davis’ Garfield the Cat, and that first special won an Emmy Award in 1982. In 1987, Bill took on the character Cathy by Cathy Guisewite, and won a Best Animated Special Emmy for that show.
He was a past faculty member of the University of Southern California in the Cinema Arts Department. Bill lived in Los Angeles until his death in 2008 at the age of 91. Bill has two grown sons, six grandchildren and fourteen great grandchildren.
Lee Mendelson
Lee Mendelson is a third-generation San Franciscan, born March 24, 1933. He graduated from Stanford University in 1954 and served as a navigator in the United States Air Force from 1955 to 1957. He was a writer-producer-director at KPIX-TV in San Francisco from 1961 to 1963, where his series on the history of California won a coveted Peabody Award.
Along with Charles Schulz and animator Bill Melendez, Lee went on to produce 45 Peanuts prime-time specials, which won four more Emmys and one more Peabody and 15 other Emmy nominations. He was also the Executive Producer of four Peanuts animated feature films.
Lee produced 12 Garfield prime-time specials, which won four Emmys, as well as a 120-program series, Garfield and Friends. He also produced three Cathy animated specials, one of which won an Emmy.
Lee has produced 48 live action prime-time network specials, starring such hosts as Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Whoopi Goldberg, Telly Savalas, Bing Crosby, Lucille Ball, Gene Kelly, Lee Marvin, Peter Falk, Henry Fonda, Flip Wilson, Woody Allen, Walter Cronkite and George C. Scott. Among these are two documentaries written by Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck, Travels With Charley and America and Americans, the latter of which won two Emmys as Best Documentary of the year. Many of his productions feature environmental and American-reflective themes.
His first of four Peanuts movies (A Boy Named Charlie Brown) received an Oscar nomination for Best Musical Score and the Peanuts music has received four Grammy nominations.
Lee is the author of the book A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition, which was on the New York Times Bestseller List for eight weeks and sold over 200,000 copies, as well as two other books on Charles Schulz.
Lee was the lyricist for “Christmas Time Is Here,” (music by Vince Guaraldi for A Charlie Brown Christmas) which has become a Christmas standard. The music from the Peanuts shows has sold over 4 million albums, and has been performed by such artists as Vince Guaraldi, David Benoit, Wynton Marsalis, George Winston and Sarah MacLachlan.
Lee’s latest productions include: Born to Play Ball on Willie Mays; It’s Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown! (Emmy winner) hosted by Kristen Bell for ABC TV; and a documentary on Famous American Firsts.
Lee is a longstanding member of the Television Academy, D.G.A., W.G.A., AMPAS and the Recording Academy.
Eric Schaeffer
Eric Schaeffer co-founded Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, in 1989 and was its artistic director for three decades. The theatre received the 2009 Regional Theatre Tony Award and became home to the American Musical Voices Project (AMVP) – the largest musical commission program in America. He directed over 60 productions for Signature.
Mr. Schaeffer has directed Gigi, Follies, Million Dollar Quartet, Glory Days and Putting It Together on Broadway. He has also directed in the West End in London with Million Dollar Quartet and The Witches of Eastwick. At the Kennedy Center, he served as Artistic Director of the Sondheim Celebration, where he also directed Sunday in the Park With George and Passion, along with Mame, Follies and First You Dream. He has received six Helen Hayes Awards for outstanding direction, eight Helen Hayes Awards for outstanding musical, 31 Helen Hayes Award nominations for outstanding director and the Washington Arts Founder Award.
Assistant Stage Manager
Natasha Thompson
Casting
Casting Director
Bretteney Beverly
Costume Staff
Dresser
Natasha Thompson
Draper
Martha Mitchell
Stitchers
Scían Hayes, Veronica Dimoff
Wig Specialist
Jaclyn Deshaye
Scenic & Lighting Staff
Master Electrician
Aiyana Stephens
Scenic Carpenters
Tim Samland (original builder)†, Garrett Dill (install)
Light Board Operator
Aurora Asay
Sound Board Operator
Kathryn Louise
Electricians
Glen Fritz, Matthew Ray, Caden Seil, Amanda Sweger
† All stage work performed by employees represented by I.A.T.S.E., Local No. 15.
Taste of Show
Stop by concessions before the show to pre-order your intermission refreshments.
Taproot’s concessions menu features Pacific Northwest wine and beer, non-alcoholic beverages, and a variety of snacks, including specialty items chosen specifically for this show.
Food and drink specials curated for A Sherlock Carol and A Charlie Brown Christmas:
Snacks
- Charlie's Chocolate Brown-ie. Gluten-free chocolate brownie (Lá Liath Bakery)
- Patty's Peppermint White Chocolate Chip Cookie (Lá Liath Bakery)
- Schroeder's Cheddar & Onion Scone (Seattle Scone Company)
Drinks
- The Countess. Vodka, orange liquer, pomegranate-cranberry juice, lime
- Holmes' Holiday Punch. Cranberry juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, soda water (Served alcoholic or non-alcoholic)
- Scrooge's Slow-Mulled Wine
- Red Ribbon Hot Buttered Rum
- Fizz-iwig's Christmas Morning Orange. Orange juice, cardamom bitters, ginger beer (Non-alcoholic)
- Snoopy's Snowglobe. Vanilla cream soda with edible glitter (Non-alcoholic)
Lobby Gallery
Conversations: Paintings by Brandy Agun
November 24–December 31, 2025
My objective ultimately is to create emotional paintings balancing the content with the design elements I find most pleasing in order to connect with the viewer and our common humanity. Painting for me is a conversation.
—Brandy Agun
Brandy Agun’s scenes of everyday life quietly allow us inside private moments, illuminating emotional, human ties between the people and objects depicted, and the places in which they exist. Originally trained in a highly representational painting style, Brandy has since found herself melding abstract forms of painting with realistic forms, creating a collage of what she really sees.
There is a place where representation and abstraction meet, and it is an exhilarating endeavor for me to push that boundary, allowing some of an image to be clearly understood and other parts more vague, dissolving into a cacophony of interesting shapes
and colors.
—Brandy Agun
The resulting paintings are like puzzle pieces for Brandy, focusing on color, shape, light, and design, which allows her the freedom to explore her surroundings as forms that work together. Pulling together visual clues—much like Sherlock Holmes pulling together many types of clues—Brandy presents us with very human scenes, filled with gentle emotions and tender reminiscences.
Brandy studied painting at the Georgetown Atelier and took courses and workshops at the Seattle Sculpture Atelier, Gage Academy of Art, and the Portland Art Museum. She teaches at the Kirkland Art Center and the Northwest Art Center, and is represented by Fountainhead Gallery in Seattle. Her work has been exhibited in numerous shows across the PNW.
All works are for sale unless marked by a red dot. Please visit Brandy’s website at brandyagun.com for more details about her work and to contact the artist for purchase enquiries.
—Gina Cavallo, Curator & Director of Development, Taproot Theatre
Join us for Taproot’s 50th Anniversary Season!
Till We Have Faces | January 21–February 21, 2026
By C.S. Lewis, Adapted for stage by Karen Lund
The season opens with a world premiere of Till We Have Faces, a powerful retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. Based on C.S. Lewis’s final novel and adapted for stage by Taproot’s Producing Artistic Director Karen Lund, this brand-new play explores deep themes of love, beauty, faith, doubt, and the bonds of sisterhood.
Ain't Misbehavin' | March 18–April 18, 2026
The Fats Waller Music Show by Richard Maltby Jr.
Following the success of 2025’s Always… Patsy Cline, Taproot presents another musical commemoration: Richard Maltby, Jr.’s Ain’t Misbehavin’, a Tony Award-winning tribute to jazz legend Fats Waller. Full of joy, rhythm, and soul, this celebration of Black artistry remembers Fats Waller’s generation-defining songs and lasting impact on today’s music and culture.
Barefoot in the Park | May 13–June 13, 2026
By Neil Simon
Taproot further develops its reputation of producing classic comedies with a production of Barefoot in the Park by Neil Simon. Set in 1960s New York, this rom-com about a buttoned-up young lawyer and his free-spirited bride is full of wit, chemistry, and charm.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | July 8–August 8, 2026
Lyrics by Tim Rice, Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
From iconic duo Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, Taproot tailors the hit musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for its intimate stage, inviting audiences to experience a powerful performance up-close. Previously presented in 2007, this vibrant new production bursts with pop, gospel, calypso, and rock.
Conscience | September 16–October 17, 2026
By Joe DiPietro
The season closes with a regional premiere of Joe DiPietro’s Conscience, a gripping play based on true events that shaped history. Following the story of Margaret Chase Smith, a U.S. Senator who stood up to McCarthyism in the 1950s, this stirring new work still resonates today.
Up Next on the Jewell Mainstage
Till We Have faces
By C.S. Lewis • Adapted for stage by Karen Lund
A world premiere retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche
When Psyche is sacrificed to appease the gods, her sister Orual—the future warrior queen—ventures to give her a proper burial. But Psyche is not dead, and she believes she’s living a life Orual cannot see. What follows is a powerful, mythic journey through love, beauty, faith, doubt, and the bonds of sisterhood..
Early Bird tickets: $30
Make your purchase by January 21 for any performance on or before January 31.
Use promo code EARLY30 online [link: taproottheatre.org/faces] or by phone at 206.781.9707.
*How to purchase Early Bird Tickets: Find the promo code field located at the top of the ticketing page. Enter code before adding regular tickets to cart. This offer is only valid for regular-priced tickets in seat levels B and C for Till We Have Faces performances. Cannot be combined with other discounts and is not valid on previously purchased tickets. Limit four (4) tickets per person.
A Season of Hope
As Sherlock Holmes returns to our stage in A Sherlock Carol, remember, it’s no mystery why Taproot is about to celebrate our 50th Anniversary Season… it’s because of the generosity of patrons like you who have helped us provide stories of hope to our community all these years!
The extraordinary support of our donors has already had a huge impact on over 100,000 people this year alone.
Will you help us reach our $500,000 End-of-Year Goal with a gift today to make sure we can continue to provide hope-filled experiences to as many people as possible?
Every gift, no matter the size, can have a tremendous impact on the future of Taproot and the stories being told in our community.
Please share your hope by making the most generous gift you can by December 31.
Taproot Theatre is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization, Federal Tax ID# 91-0971237. Your donation to Taproot Theatre Company is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Acting camps and classes available now!
Register today!
For grades K-12
Winter Classes begin February 2. Midwinter break camps run February 16–20. Spring camps are also open for registration now!
Visit our website for the most up-to-date information on Taproot’s Spring Break camps for grades Pre-K– 12. Summer camps go on sale in January!
Improv for Adults!
Learn the basics of storytelling and comedy; improve your ability to think on your feet; boost your communication skills and confidence—or just come out and laugh with some new friends.
Winter Session: February 3–March 31
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