Joliet theater to host a ‘truly charming and heartwarming’ live performance of ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas.’

Like many families through the years, Connor Barr has fond memories of gathering near the television set with loved ones to watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

Now Barr is part of bringing that show in a new way to audiences across the U.S.

For the second year in a row, Barr is portraying Charlie Brown in “A Charlie Brown Christmas Live On Stage.” This holiday show will come to the Rialto Square Theater in Joliet 6:30 p.m. Nov. 30. Tickets are on sale now.

Barr said the show recreates the original Christmas special “word for word” along with “classic Peanuts moves,” music, dance and a few surprises.

Todd Gershwin of Gershwin Entertainment, producers of the live show, said that “A Charlie Brown Christmas Live on Stage” is “a truly charming and heartwarming production.”

“It’s also a great way for young children to experience a theatre show for the first time,” Gershwin said in the release.

The running time is approximately 90 minutes. This includes a 20-minute intermission, according to the in “A Charlie Brown Christmas Live On Stage.”

Real actors, not costumed characters, perform the roles of the Peanuts gang, the website said.

The show is interactive, includes live music and features the classic favorites by the late jazz pianist Vincent Guaraldi that people remember in the Peanuts animated television specials, the website said.

Of all the musical numbers, Barr said he especially enjoys Guaraldi’s skating sequence.

“It brings me back to all the Peanuts on the ice being led around by Snoopy and evokes warm holiday memories,” Barr said.

The show has “something for everyone,” Barr said, although the average age of attendees are ages 4 to 12, the website said.

Not feeling the holiday spirit? Barr feels that’s the point of the show. People might be missing the holidays of their past, missing loved ones or, as Barr said, feeling as if “something is off.”

If that’s the case, Barr feels people will empathize with Charlie Brown as Charlie Brown learns about the true meaning of Christmas.

“There is beauty in Christmas and beauty in the holidays,” Barr said. “And there is always a community that people can find, even if they’re not feeling it in the moment.”

Barr performed the role of Charlie Brown in “A Charlie Brown Christmas Live” last year at the Palladium in Times Square, which really stretched his acting capabilities, he said.

“Just playing that big of a house was something I’d never done before,” Barr said.

Barr, who hails from Texas, said he received his love for acting from his father, who participated in community theater when Barr was a boy.

“He’d bring me to the theater to help paint the sets as much as a 3, 4-year-old could do,” Barr said. “Just being on stage in that space really opened my eyes.”

When Barr was a child, he liked Snoopy the best. But now that he’s 26, he’s drawn to Linus’ simple yet expressive wisdom, he said.

“Even though he’s an 8-year-old child, the things he is saying and the things he is feeling are very profound and very real to what people of all ages are feeling,” Barr said. “He’s just a kid, but he’s examining that from the lens of an adult but through the eyes of a child, if that makes sense.”

The Rialto Square Theatre is located at 102 N. Chicago St. in Joliet.

For tickets to “A Charlie Brown Christmas Live On Stage” and more information, visit rialtosquare.com/events.