The Peanuts gang will leave the Sunday...

The Peanuts gang will leave the Sunday comics today and take the stage to perform “Snoopy,” a musical based on the popular comic strip. The musical is the first in a series of eight productions this year making up the Norris Theatre’s Children’s Series.

Performed by the Serendipity Theatre Company of West Hollywood, the musical will not follow a single story line. Instead, the performance will be a collection of situations that Charles Schulz’s faithful should be familiar with: the annual nocturnal search for the Great Pumpkin, Snoopy’s struggle to get past the opening line of his great American novel (“It was a dark and stormy night.”), and some of Peppermint Patty’s more anxious moments in the classroom.

“Everyone is going to be familiar with these situations from the comic strip,” said Peter Lesnik, managing director for the Norris Theatre. “The relationships between the characters are the same, but what is said between them is different.

“The costumes closely follow what the characters wear in the comic strip. But what I like most about this production is how the actors and actresses have captured the essence of these characters.”

Although this show is part of the Norris Theatre’s Children’s Series, Lesnik points out that the show is not exclusively for a young audience.

“It’s like Peanuts the comic strip: Children will get it, but there’s also a lot of depth to it. It does have a sort of life philosophy to it,” Lesnik said.

This is the first time that the Norris Theatre has presented the Serendipity Theatre Company. The company previously performed “Snoopy” for five weeks over the summer at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles.

During that time, Lesnik brought his own children to see “Snoopy” at the Coronet. After they gave the show rave reviews, he decided to invite the company to perform the musical at the Norris Theatre.

Snoopy will be shown at 1 and 4 p.m. today at the 451-seat theater on Crossfield Drive at Indian Peak Road in Palos Verdes. The musical is one hour long, with no intermission. Tickets are $12.