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 A Rip Roarin’ Musical
By by Marie J. Kilker
Apple’s ‘Li’l Abner’ creates genial fun
By Jay Handelman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Take a trip back in time with the Golden Apple's Li'l Abner. By Kay Kipling, Sarasota Magazine
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Reviewed by Marie J. Kilker
Al Capp's characters and situations are comically classic: Buxom blond Daisy Mae hankers after but has never quite pinned down big, muscular Abner in marriage. Pappy Yokum's all for it but the Kickapoo Joy Juice that Mammy Yokum gives their son to keep him anything but "Li'l" also quenches desire. Earthquake McGoon has plenty of that for Daisy Mae. She aims instead to catch Abner on Sadie Hawkins Day, when Dogpatch gals get to chase and wed the men they tag. But just before it dawns, it's not "A Typical Day" when scientist Ramona Finsdale arrives from Washington D.C. to announce evacuation for an imminent nuclear test. Neither town nor race will be spared, unless Dogpatch can prove it's not America's most unnecessary place. How will that happen when its backward hillbillies take after the town's founder, the perpetual loser "Jubilation T. Cornpone"? And even if the bombing's stopped, won't General Bullmoose get recipe and rights to make and market Joy Juice by fixing the race so that his stooge Appassionata Von Climax wins Abner?
Though dated and mostly silly, Li'l Abner has some rousing songs, with clever anytime lyrics typical of Johnny Mercer. "The Country's In the Very Best of Hands" satirizes politics today as effectively as it did in 1950. Dewayne Barrett's "Sadie Hawkins Day Ballet" and "Matrimonial Stomp" choreography nicely fits the show as well as the limits of the dancers. Highlighting the production are Michael Newton-Brown's cartoonish set and the primary-colored costumes Dee Richards designed following Capp's drawings.
Director Robert Ennis Turoff obviously put a lot of thought into having his cast look its part and act so as to live up to the subtitle, Rip Roarin' Musical. He contributes further a seriously hardboiled General Bulmoose, matching the greediness (for government compensation money) shown by Joe Hunter's Mayor Dawgmeat and Brian Nichols' Senator Phogbound. Easily the star both acting and singing, Heather Kopp as Daisy Mae goes from funny, claiming "I'm Past My Prime", to romantic wishing for "Love in a Home." With looks and a voice much like a young Howard Keel's, Matthew C. Scott as Abner is tall of stature but short on charisma. That makes more of a rival out of lively Ryan Kimball Fitts' McGoon. Perhaps their origins are responsible for the show's comic caricatures being the most fun: Michael Bajjaly, goofy and all-out-ostentatious as Marryin' Sam; rambunctious Ellie Pattison as pipe smokin' Mammy Yokum alongside peppy though bent over Pappy played by plucky Bob Trisolini. After a stiff start, Roberta MacDonald warms up later just as does her Dr. Finsdale. Sevasty Antoniades and Kathryn Ohrenstein do sexy turns respectively as Appassionata and Stupefyin' Jones. Eric Gregory as Available Jones, Craig Weiskerger as Evil Eye Fleagle, and Charlie Nelson as Moonbeam McSwine illustrate their characters' names.
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John Visser and his musicians do justice to the score for 2 and 1/2 hours, except for a 15 minute intermission. It is unusual for an oldie like Li'l Abner to be new to the longest continuously run dinner theatre in America, but an audience known for liking nostagia should especially enjoy this romp as a remembrance.
Apple’s ‘Li’l Abner’ creates genial fun
By Jay Handelman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
REVIEW: Apple’s ‘Li’l Abner’ creates genial fun
For more than 40 years, Al Capp had the nation’s attention through his trend-setting comic strip Li’l Abner, which poked fun at the government and society through its depiction of a friendly if seemingly backward group of hillbillies living in Dogpatch.
The 1950s stage musical “Li’l Abner” captured some of the flavor of the cartoon about Dogpatch being declared the nation’s most unnecessary place and the perfect site for nuclear testing. But don’t cross Dogpatch right before the annual Sadie Hawkins Day race, when young women chase down prospective husbands. You’ll get trouble.
The somewhat dated musical isn’t done much these days, and it comes off as something of a genial throwback at the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre.
The story by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank about Dogpatchers trying to find something in town to prove their worth is fun and occasionally funny, and the songs by Gene de Paul and lyricist Johnny Mercer are generally catchy.
The production staged by Robert Ennis Turoff (who also plays the money-hungry General Bullmoose) makes some noise but rarely creates the kind of excitement it strives for.
During the lively hoedown to “Rag Off’n The Bush,” choreographed by Dewayne Barrett, the cast members look like they are working to have fun rather than sharing their joy.
But there is a jovial spirit to the show, and the actors look like they’ve popped right out of Capp’s drawings in Dee Richards’ costumes, which are a fine complement to Michael Newton-Brown colorfully cartoonish set.
Newcomer Matthew Scott is a good physical fit for the strapping Abner, whose growth is a result of years of drinking his mother’s tonic, which makes men fit but lacking in interest in love and life.
Scott plays Abner’s lackadaisical attitude but doesn’t bring a lot of charisma to make him more endearing or seem like such a catch for Daisy Mae.
Heather Kopp is delightful as Daisy Mae and makes full use of her sweet voice on several tender songs including “Love in a Home.”
Ellie Pattison, dressed in candy-stripe stockings and, yellow boots and puffing on a corncob pipe, is a hoot as Mammy Yokum. She brings out most of the fun flavor of the show, along with Michael Bajjaly as Marryin’ Sam.
Bajjaly leads the joyous “Jubilation T. Cornpone” about the town’s inept founder and also pairs nicely with Scott on the clever lyrics of “The Country’s in the Very Best of Hands.”
Bob Trisolini is a fast-moving match to Pattison as the much put-upon Pappy Yokum. Roberta MacDonald seems unusually hesitant as a government scientist.
John Visser leads a lively band which can get the toes tapping, and the large cast works hard to make a visit to Dogpatch a pleasant diversion.
Take a trip back in time with the Golden Apple's Lil Abner
By Kay Kipling, Sarasota Magazine
By Kay Kipling
The first question you might ask yourself before seeing the current production of Li’l Abner at the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre could very well be, “Does it feel dated?” The answer: yes and no.
What does sometimes feel dated in this 1956 musical, adapted from the long-running comic strip by Al Capp set in mythical Dogpatch, U.S.A., is the cornpone humor (although admittedly it’s appropriate for the characters as conceived) and the general ignorance of the Dogpatch citizens. It’s harder and harder to find isolated yokels such as these in the age of the Internet. What doesn’t seem dated—and probably never will—are the satirical jabs at the way the government in Washington works. Some things never change.
Of course since Li’l Abner is derived from a comic strip, it’s only fitting that the costumes (by Dee Richards), the set (by Michael Newton-Brown) and the performances (by a larger than usual Golden Apple cast) feel cartoonish in coloring and tone. From the minute Abner (Matthew C. Scott), Daisy Mae (Heather Kopp) and Mammy and Pappy Yokum (Ellie Pattison and Bob Trisolini) step onstage, they immediately bring to mind the characters as drawn by Capp (at least for audience members of a certain age, since the strip ended in 1977).
The plot here involves Daisy Mae’s eternal attempts to land Abner as a husband in the traditional yearly Sadie Hawkins Day race. Complicating matters this year, however, is a government plan to move all the Dogpatch citizens away from their benighted hometown in order to test a bomb on the site. Seems there is nothing “necessary” enough in Dogpatch to preserve. Before long we’re meeting scientists and politicians (including Robert Turoff as the avaricious General Bullmoose) who may change forever the way Dogpatch sees itself. Will the town survive? And will Abner and Daisy Mae finally get hitched?
Li’l Abner tends to work best on the big country-spirited production numbers, like Jubilation T. Cornpone, the lampooning The Country’s in the Very Best of Hands, and Rag Off’n the Bush, when Dewayne Barrett’s choreography has the cast stepping lively to these Gene DePaul-Johnny Mercer tunes. But there are also good moments courtesy of the ever-spunky Pattison as bossy Mammy, Trisolini as boot-kicking Pappy, and Michael Bajjaly as the enterprising Marryin’ Sam. Heather Kopp is appealing as the buxom Daisy Mae, and Sevasty Antoniades has the right bimbo moves as General Bullmoose’s “assistant,” Appassionata Von Climax. As the title character, Scott looks the part, but he could punch up Abner’s signature traits (like his fear of commitment but overall upright nature) more than he does to maximize the comic effect.
Li’l Abner may appeal more to generations that remember Al Capp’s heyday than to younger ones that don’t. But as a seldom-presented show, it’s worth taking a peek for musical theater lovers. The production continues through April 4; for tickets call 366-5454 or go to thegoldenapple.com.
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