Snoopy, I Have a Feeling We're Not in 1965 Anymore

When Bert V. Royal started writing "Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead" in 2004, he had just been dumped by his boyfriend and lost his job.

"Who better to be the vessel for my frustrations than the blockhead who's followed around by a rain cloud and is constantly getting the football yanked from him," Royal wrote in a 2005 feature on Broadway.com.

The result? A completely unauthorized dark parody of the Peanuts gang of Charles Schulz fame. Gone is the spindly Christmas tree of TV legend. Gone is the Great Pumpkin. And gone is Snoopy. Yes, prepare yourself. Rabies has killed Snoopy.

Carrollwood Players Theatre is presenting the Off-Broadway hit on its Mainstage for a limited two week run beginning on November 15th.

"CB" and friends are now teenagers, and it's a whole new world. You'll recognize the staple characters, but they all have different names.

Schroeder is now Beethoven, a piano virtuoso. Peppermint Patty is now Tricia, a popular girl whose needy sidekick is Marcy (Schulz's Marcie). Pig Pen has become Matt, a sexually compulsive bully, and Linus is now Van, a toking philosopher. Van's sister has no name. Instead, she is a convicted arsonist responsible for the torching of the Little Red Haired Girl's famous curls. And CB's sister? Well, she is a basket case.

This bold interpretation of the Peanuts gang as teenagers uses a healthy dose of comedy and some of the best dramatic dialogue in modern theater to not only poke fun at, but to rip wide open the many challenges that come with adolescence.

According to Director Thomas Pahl, "Dog Sees God uses characters you know to expose the challenges teenagers face, and how those challenges force you to grow up, even when you're not ready to."

And the show doesn't tiptoe around those issues. Everything from drug and alcohol abuse to death and grieving, sexual identity and bullying is addressed.

While not recommended for younger audiences, the play promises a rich experience for adults who seek an opportunity to laugh, reflect, and remember the angst of being a teenager. And the "what ever became of" curiosity about the Peanuts gang is certainly a draw for anyone who ever wondered what happened after the Great Pumpkin biodegraded.

"Dog Sees God" features Daniel Scott Dagesse as "CB," Elsie Michelle Mendez as "CB's Sister," Cory Weintraub as "Van," Carson Schlein as "Matt," Cole Reiche as "Beethoven," Emily Cockerill as "Marcy," Samantha Cevasco as "Tricia," and Annie Alise Miller as "Van's Sister."

The play runs on Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm and Sunday afternoons at 3 pm from November 15th through 23rd. Performances are at Carrollwood Players Theatre, 4333 Gunn Highway, Tampa, FL, 33618. Tickets range from $20-$24.