Thu 2/2 @ 7PM
Al Capp’s popular comic strip Li’l Abner ran in newspapers across the country from 1934-1977, following the doings of a family of hillbillies living in a town called Dogpatch. The main character was the handsome, sweet-natured but dim-witted hunk of the trip’s title. Its running gag was his evasion of being caught by the voluptuous Daisy Mae, who inspired the name for cut-off blue jean short shorts, showing what a major cultural phenomenon the strip was. (It also gave birth to “Sadie Hawkins Day.”) Other characters sported names such as Moonbeam McSwine, Stupefyin’ Jones, Confederate General Jubiliation T. Cornpone, Earthquake McGoon and Appassionata von Climax, one of a number of bombshells Daisy Mae had to fight off for Abner’s attention. The names clearly reveal the strip’s satirical intent.
It spawned a 1956 Broadway musical, which spawned the 1959 film that’s the subject of The Musical Theater Project’s next “Movies at Home” segment. Host Bill Rudman, TMTP’s artistic director, says, “If you can leave howls of “sexism!” at the door, Li’l Abner offers lots and lots of pleasure to be found beyond Appassionata von Climax. One of the best things about it is that it basically reproduces the stage original, so you get a marvelous sense of state-of-the-art musical comedy in 1957 —as conceived by the same bookwriters, choreographer, leading man (Peter Palmer was born to play the title role!), and first rate songs by Johnny Mercer and Gene de Paul.”
A side note: Palmer was a college football standout at the University of Illinois whose team won the 1953 Rose Bowl. He not only played but sang the National Anthem before every home game! His Daisy Mae, Leslie Parrish, now 87, became a civil rights and anti-war activist in the 60s and later an environmental activist.
Start by watching Rudman’s introduction on YouTube, telling you what to look for when you watch the film. Then watch it on YouTube. Finally join him on Zoom for the discussion on Thursday February 2. It’s free and no registration is needed. Just go here.