Dog Sees God

Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead (2005)

Ian makes his Off-Broadway debut in Bert V. Royal's Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead. An unauthorized take on what happens to Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang after Snoopy dies and everyone has grown up a bit. The show opens for previews at the Century Center on December 1 and opens on December 15th. Tickets can be purchased through Telecharge (212-239-6200).

The cast and how they describe their characters. For more about the cast and their roles, click here.

Eddie Kaye Thomas: CB (Charlie Brown) "He's just lost his dog, his childhood friend, and his other best friend is in jail and it's his first dose of adulthood. He's just kind of trying to deal with these real emotions and these real problems for the first time." Eliza Dushku: Van's Sister (Lucy) "She's outspoken, precocious, tyrannical, probably one of the loudest individuals in any given room. But at the same time, she's one of the most down-to-earth, logical characters in the play in all this teen angst and confusion."

Ian Somerhalder: Matt (Pigpen) "He's a complete germophobe [and has] a holster for a big dispenser of antibacterial hand sanitizer. Completely OCD and gets very upset when anyone makes a references to Pigpen and explodes violently." America Ferrara: CB's Sister (Sally) "She really has a very special relationship with her brother and she kind of has a crush on [the same guy her brother does]. She's very unique and searching for her identity, she's a little younger than CB and his friends."

Logan Marshall-Green: Beethoven (Schroeder) "He is ridiculed and picked on. He's very isolated; he plays piano alone—it's kind of his best friend. One of his best friends growing up, CB, comes back [home] and they form a relationship." Kelli Garner: Tricia (Peppermint Patty) "She's basically become her worst nightmare; a bitchy, unruly loudmouth girl. And it's all mask and covers for her probably being the most insecure of them all. [One of] those girls in school that you would enter a room and they would just start laughing and make you feel horrible."

Keith Nobbs: Van (Linus) "Van is the guy in high school who is stoned 95% of the time. But he's not the kind of the person who gets stoned and eats a lot of munchies, he'll get stoned and do yoga and read Buddhist philosophy. Then talk to people about that, whether they want to hear it or not." Ari Graynor: Marcy (Marcie) "She is a perfect example of someone who is in 'the cool group,' her biggest goal in life is to be accepted and popular and the same as everybody else. Her world is consumed by being accepting by the people you're supposed to care about. She's sort of boy-crazy and wants love and I think that's a common thing in high school."

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From Broadway.com

Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead (Off-Broadway)
Stars from American Pie, Bring it On and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants headline this darkly comic take on the Charlie Brown and his friends.

In this "unauthorized parody," set approximately 10 years after the events in the 50-year-running comic Peanuts, CB's beloved beagle has terminal rabies, and his world is inhabited by a comic strip parade of misfits: a missing pen pal, an abused pianist, a pyromaniac ex-girlfriend, two drunk cheerleaders, a homophobic quarterback, a burnt-out Buddhist and a drama-queen sister. Together, these factors all contribute -- Good grief! -- to this modern tale of teenage angst.

Always trying to understand life's darker meanings and still plagued with his endless identity crisis, CB turns to his gang of friends to find answers to his many life questions.

Bert V. Royal's play earned top honors at the 2004 Fringe Festival and GLAAD's Media Award for best off-off-Broadway production that same year.

From Playbill.com

"Lost" Star Joins Off-Broadway "Peanuts" Spoof Dog Sees God

By Ernio Hernandez
31 Oct 2005

Ian Somerhalder — who appeared last season on ABC's "Lost" — joins Eddie Kaye Thomas and Eliza Dushku in the cast of the upcoming Off-Broadway run of Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead.

Trip Cullman (The Last Sunday in June) will direct the new run of the award winning 2004 FringeNYC take-off of the "Peanuts" characters. Previews begin Dec. 1 towards a Dec. 15 opening at the downtown's Century Center for the Performing Arts.

Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead is written by Bert V. Royal. The spoof of the Charles Schulz comic strip "Peanuts" follows the original gang a decade later as their beloved beagle companion dies. A missing pen pal, an abused pianist, a pyromaniac ex-girlfriend, two drunk cheerleaders, a homophobic quarterback, a burnt out Buddhist and a drama queen sister fill the show's ensemble.

Somerhalder appeared as Boone, the first major character to be killed, on the first season of TV's "Lost." The actor has also appeared in the films "Rules of Attraction" and the upcoming "Pulse" as well as other TV stints on "Smallville," ""Young Americans," "CSI: Miami," Law & Order: SVU" and "Now and Again."

He joins Thomas ("American Pie," Smelling A Rat) and Dushku ("Bring It On," "Tru Calling") in a cast that also features America Ferrara ("Real Women Have Curves"), Ari Graynor ("Mystic River," Brooklyn Boy), Logan Marshall Green ("The O.C.," The Distance From Here) and Keith Nobbs ("Phone Booth," Romance). Somerhalder replaces the previously announced Michael Rady.

The design team for Dog Sees God features David Korins (scenic), Jenny Mannis (costumes), Darron L. West (sound) and Brian MacDevitt (lighting).

Dede Harris — currently represented on Broadway by Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Hairspray — will produce with Martian Entertainment as co producer. Sorrell Tomlinson and David Carpenter are associate producers. Other recent credits for Harris include The Pillowman, Shockheaded Peter, Golda's Balcony, The Crucible, Elaine Stritch At Liberty, Metamorphoses, Noises Off, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Music Man, Swing!, The Exonerated and tick, tick...BOOM!

Produced by File 14 Productions at The New York International Fringe Festival in 2004, the palindromically-titled show then continued at its venue under an Off Broadway contract in association with the Soho Playhouse. The work received a Fringe Excellence Award for Overall Production and GLAAD's Media Award for Outstanding Off-Off Broadway Production.

Tickets to Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead at the Century Center, 111 East 15th Street, will be available through (212) 239-6200.

DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD REVIEW by Gary W. Rad

A Play by Bert V. Royal

Directed by Trip Cullman

Starring : Eliza Dushku, America Ferrera, Kelli Garner, Ari Graynor, Logan Marshall-Green,

Keith Nobbs, IAN SOMERHALDER, Eddie Kaye Thomas

Currently seen at the Century Center for the Performing Arts, 111 East 15th Street, New York, New York (call 212-239-6200 for tickets)

C.B. (aka Charlie Brown) has a dilemma: his faithful dog (Snoopy) has just killed his bird friend (Woodstock) after coming down with rabies and had to be put to death by Animal Control. Thus the funeral of C.B.'s loyal longtime companion begins Bert V. Royal's DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD, now playing as an Off Broadway production in New York City at the Century Center for the Performing Arts. Ian makes his NYC stage debut, along with a most talented group of young actors. The play is an examination of the teenage years of the beloved Peanuts comic strip characters...filled with angst, sexual confusion, alienation, drugs and existentialist questions. The characters' names are altered from the originals as to avoid litigation from the Charles Schulz estate (DOG SEES GOD is an unauthorized parody of Peanuts), but they are readily identified.

Eddie Kaye Thomas (of "American Pie" fame) is C.B. (= Charlie Brown). America Ferrera ("Real Women Have Curves") plays C.B.'s sister (= Sally Brown). Ian plays Matt (= Pigpen) while Keith Nobbs ("Phone Booth" ) portrays Van (= Linus). Logan Marshall-Green ("The O.C.") is Beethoven (= Schroeder) and Kelli Garner ("The Aviator") and Ari Graynor ("Mystic River") are Tricia and Marcy (= Peppermint Patty and Marcie). Last, but by no means certainly not least, Eliza Dushku ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") plays Van's sister (= Lucy).

Although the New York critics were not overly generous to this play in their reviews, DOG SEES GOD is particularly geared towards a younger and hipper audience and not to jaded middle-aged theatre critics who try to outdo each other in their sarcastic and negative remarks. Most of the younger audience members whom I observed during two different performances of the play reacted quite enthusiastically. And the theater's proximity to Manhattan's New York University campus will not hurt its chances for success, nor does its wonderful cast.

The play is , in my view, already a grand artistic success with its reimagining of these well-known characters, with story elements ranging from teenage suicide, alienation, premarital sex and sexual identity, recreational drug use, pedophilia and raging homophobia...and its tides of emotion sweep up the audience with their ebb and flow. Initially disconcerting is the rough and raunchy dialogue (much of it coming out of Ian's mouth !) which is employed regularly by the author. But the shocking words are soon backed up and fortified by important themes and lessons and the vile hatespeak is meant to show us the foolishness of such bigoted attitudes and thinking. And it's all done with style and plenty of humor along the way...so if a little bit of potty language/simulated sex/drug use doesn't offend you, DOG SEES GOD is a worthwhile and truly memorable theatrical experience.

The Century Center is a small (about 290 capacity) and intimate venue where nearly every seat is excellent. The first two times I saw it were from 4th row Orchestra center which were unbelievably close to the stage and we felt completely immersed with the fable being told.

The sets are sparse but effective, as are the musical inserts. It is the actors and their words which are given the showcase here and all eight characters are provided with their moments to shine.

Most luminescent of these stars is Eliza Dushku. She appears in only two scenes and gets the least amount of onstage time but they are riveting to watch. In her makeup she is reminiscent of Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong and she portrays Lucy Van Pelt as a pyromaniac locked away in the Daisy Hill Mental Institute (fans of Peanuts will recall that Snoopy was originally from the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm). When C.B. comes to visit her she steals the stage with her manipulative behavior and seductive power, holding the audience in her palms. Later on, when she guides one of the characters to his suicide, she once again performs brilliantly.

Keith Nobbs as Van (Linus) is very funny as a dreadlocked pot smoking Buddhist who imparts his philosophy and yearns to live in Amsterdam..."not because I'm gay but because in Amsterdam you can smoke everywhere." His biggest laugh comes when he describes how he rolled the ashes of his well worn blanket with marijuana and smoked them after the gang burned it.

America Ferrera plays C.B.'s sister (Sally) as a Goth performance artist drama queen in search of her identity and Kelli Garner and Ari Graynor portray Tricia (Peppermint Patty) and Marcy (Marcie) as bisexual drunk Valley Girls. Their banter is among the most amusing in the show and Kelli's drunk scenes are hysterical.

Logan Marshall-Green as Beethoven (Schroeder) has the most difficult role in the play. He is still a talented pianist but was sexually abused by his father and is an outcast nerd, constantly being picked on and bullied by stronger boys and is an emotional wreck. Eddie Kaye Thomas as C.B. (Charlie Brown) is the anchor of the show. He provides the opening monologue as well as the closing epilogue and his sexual identity crisis forms the basis of the play's storyline (he falls in love with Beethoven and their kiss is a jaw dropping moment).

Ian has the toughest role here as Matt (Pigpen). Indeed, the character is a homophobic germophobic jock with a sexual identity crisis himself and spouts crude and vile comments throughout the play. He's not a character that is likable, which is odd because Ian in person is intensely likable and completely the opposite of Matt. Ian's first line is "C.B., my nigga...what's up dog ?"...and it's all downhill after that ! Matt goes into a rage whenever someone calls him by his old name (Pigpen) and carries a bottle of anti-bacterial hand sanitizer around with him. He constantly makes lewd comments at the female characters and horrible antigay remarks towards the Beethoven character. Basically, Matt is a repressed homosexual who is in love with C.B. and flies into a rage when C.B. falls for Beethoven. He confronts Beethoven in the school's music room and winds up breaking his hands on the piano which results in Beethoven committing suicide by swallowing pills...the hand breaking scene is the most disturbing in the play and well executed by Ian and Logan.

Ian gets to show off his dancing skills in a party scene at Marcy's house where he and C.B. dirty dance with Tricia. Later, in the same scene, he then shows off his body when following a threeway with Tricia and Marcy he is shirtless and in his boxer shorts !

Following Beethoven's suicide (and Matt's one week suspension from school) there is a touching schoolroom scene where the teacher asks the students to discuss their feelings over the death of their friend. And when C.B. receives a surprise letter from his longtime penpal (signed "C.S." for Charles Schulz) the play comes to a conclusion when C.B. learns that he must enjoy life but always ask questions...trippy stuff indeed.

DOG SEES GOD: CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BLOCKHEAD is a powerful and haunting work...and gets better with each performance as the nuances of the dialogue settle in with repetition. The cast is universally excellent and Ian is understandably proud of his association with this project. His role as Matt is a difficult one but he pulls it off with a dramatic range and emotional skills which are best appreciated in a live performance. There is a camaraderie among this cast which shines through and the material presented is a blend of cutting edge satire, social commentary and philosophical viewpoints.

Where does a dog see God ? A dog sees God in his master...so pull out your Sartre' and Kierkegaard and discuss among yourselves. I know seeing this play made me think a little bit !

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The cast and how they describe their characters. For more about the cast and their roles, click here.

Eddie Kaye Thomas: CB (Charlie Brown) "He's just lost his dog, his childhood friend, and his other best friend is in jail and it's his first dose of adulthood. He's just kind of trying to deal with these real emotions and these real problems for the first time."		Eliza Dushku: Van's Sister (Lucy) "She's outspoken, precocious, tyrannical, probably one of the loudest individuals in any given room. But at the same time, she's one of the most down-to-earth, logical characters in the play in all this teen angst and confusion."

Ian Somerhalder: Matt (Pigpen) "He's a complete germophobe [and has] a holster for a big dispenser of antibacterial hand sanitizer. Completely OCD and gets very upset when anyone makes a references to Pigpen and explodes violently."		America Ferrara: CB's Sister (Sally) "She really has a very special relationship with her brother and she kind of has a crush on [the same guy her brother does]. She's very unique and searching for her identity, she's a little younger than CB and his friends."

Logan Marshall-Green: Beethoven (Schroeder) "He is ridiculed and picked on. He's very isolated; he plays piano alone—it's kind of his best friend. One of his best friends growing up, CB, comes back [home] and they form a relationship."		Kelli Garner: Tricia (Peppermint Patty) "She's basically become her worst nightmare; a bitchy, unruly loudmouth girl. And it's all mask and covers for her probably being the most insecure of them all. [One of] those girls in school that you would enter a room and they would just start laughing and make you feel horrible."

Keith Nobbs: Van (Linus) "Van is the guy in high school who is stoned 95% of the time. But he's not the kind of the person who gets stoned and eats a lot of munchies, he'll get stoned and do yoga and read Buddhist philosophy. Then talk to people about that, whether they want to hear it or not."		Ari Graynor: Marcy (Marcie) "She is a perfect example of someone who is in 'the cool group,' her biggest goal in life is to be accepted and popular and the same as everybody else. Her world is consumed by being accepting by the people you're supposed to care about. She's sort of boy-crazy and wants love and I think that's a common thing in high school."