Charlie Brown and Linus discuss Christmas in classic holiday special (courtesy of Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez Productions © 2014 Peanuts Worldwide LLC)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium
1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.
Saturday, December 20, 11:00 am & 1:30 pm, and Sunday, December 21, 2:00 & 4:00 pm, $40-$80 (includes museum admission)
212-535-7710
www.metmuseum.org
www.peanuts.com
First broadcast on television on December 9, 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas has been a holiday staple for fifty years, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art is celebrating that half century of existential Christmas depression, commercialism, and faith with the special presentation “A Charlie Brown Christmas 50th Anniversary Celebration with Live Music.” “I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus,” Charlie tells his thumb-sucking, blanket-gripping best friend at the beginning of the cartoon. “Christmas is coming, but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel.” On December 20 and 21, the Met will make everyone feel a whole lot better by screening the delightful show in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium with the Rob Schwimmer Trio and the Church of the Heavenly Rest Children’s Choir playing live, reinterpreting the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s magical jazz score. Following the twenty-five-minute tale — which was written by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, directed by Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. veteran Bill Melendez, and features the voices of Peter Robbins as Charlie Brown, Chris Shea as Linus, Tracy Stratford as Lucy, Kathy Steinberg as Sally, and Melendez as Snoopy — Schwimmer and Mark Stewart will lead a holiday sing-along. Tickets, which range from $40 to $80, include museum admission, so you can also check out the Met’s Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche.