Assembling a group of talented actors, singers and dancers isn't hard. But the cast of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" requires something extra: a sense of innocence that conveys the charm of Charles Schulz's long-running and beloved cartoon, "Peanuts."

Camarillo Community Theatre has happily captured that whimsical spirit in a production that will surely delight "Peanuts" fans and likely attract newcomers to the gentle philosophy that flows through the lives of Charlie Brown and his friends.

Central to it all is an actor who can be convincing as Charlie Brown, the perpetual loser who never totally gives up hope.

Director David Newcomer has found him in Jeff Frohwein, who manages to look saucer-eyed into space, his slightly rounded face mirroring each blow to his psyche, mouth crumbling at the corners. Even his body has the perfect slump.

Gathered around our hero are the irascible Lucy, thumb-sucking Linus, Beethoven devotee Schroeder, righteous Sally and irrepressible pup Snoopy. All draw the audience into the dialogue, songs and dance that cover familiar territory to followers of Schulz, whose cartoon, still fresh and wise for a new generation, continues to run even after his death.

The children in "Peanuts" aren't really children, of course. They're mini-adults plagued by problems that might start in childhood but never entirely go away. And Snoopy isn't really a dog, but a jumping, howling, rollicking force that energizes everything around him.

Charlie Brown perceives himself as a misfit who disappoints the people around him. He's a failure at kicking a football, throwing a baseball and flying a kite, yet finds joy in the little things — a shiny sun, a redheaded girl, a warm puppy.

In the musical, his friends rally around him, insisting he's a "good man" even when they can't resist cataloging his quirks. They join him in the show's finale singing about happiness, "anyone and anything at all that's loved by you," turning around the equation so Charlie can determine his own destiny.

All of the players, even the scenery movers, add to the show's charm. Shawn Lanz is an adorable Linus, proudly sucking his thumb and dragging his blanket. Erin Fagundes is perfectly irritating as Lucy.

Ken Patton is the serious musician, Schroeder, who appealingly marches to his own, and Beethoven's, music. His breakout moment leading the group in a rousing Beethoven Day celebration is a harmonious blend of stirring music and jazzy dance.

Krissy Cundiff is pert, and grating in her own way, as Sally. But the really endearing role of Snoopy rises to showstopping range in the faithful pup's exuberant "Suppertime," where he emerges definitively from dogdom and becomes a suave song-and-dance man. Arryck Adams does it all, brilliantly.

Except for Snoopy's dazzling dance, the rest of the players make do with fewer steps, but choreographer Tami Keaton has attuned them perfectly to the soul of "Charlie Brown."

Anyone who remembers the original 1967 production will find some witty additions, including computers, messaging and video games that make the scenes more contemporary without losing their essential simplicity.

On opening night the frequent maneuvering of set elements — Schroeder's piano, Snoopy's doghouse, a few walls and bleachers — had the air of still being on a learning curve, but the movers balanced that with clever bits of mime. Lights also didn't always seem to be in the right place at the right time.

But all involved had their hearts in the right place, and that's what lifts the show from a deft cartoon to a mirror of life.

— E-mail Rita Moran at ritamoran@earthlink.net.