"Li'l Abner" - Staged Concert in SF

[jimnysf]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 3:15am

I just got back from seeing this. The cast was fantastic!
Jason Winfield plays Li'l Abner. Katya Smirnoff-Skyy, a Drag Queen, plays Stupefyin' Jones.






http://www.playbill.com/events/event_detail/9036.html


Li'l Abner
42nd Street Moon @ Eureka Theatre

A rip-roaring satire.
Show Dates:
Performances from 20 Jul 2006
Opening 22 Jul 2006
Closing 13 Aug 2006
Performance Schedule:
Thursday, July 20 @ 8pm
Friday, July 21 @ 8pm
Saturday, July 22 @ 6pm
Sunday, July 23 @ 3pm

Thursday, July 27 @ 8pm
Friday, july 28 @ 8pm
Saturday, July 29 @ 6pm
Sunday, July 30 @ 3pm

Wednesday, August 2 @ 7pm
Thursday, August 3 @ 8pm
Friday, August 4 @ 8pm
Saturday, August 5 @ 6pm
Sunday, August 6 @ 3pm

Thursday, August 10 @ 8pm
Friday, August 11 @ 8pm
Saturday, August 12 @ 1pm -- Special Family Matinee
Saturday, August 13 @ 6pm
Sunday, August 13 @ 3pm



Tickets:
Pricing: $33, $28.

Kids Free on Saturday, August 12 matinee.

Box Office: [phone] or www.42ndstmoon.org


Theatre Information:
42nd Street Moon @ Eureka Theatre
215 Jackson St.
(between Battery and Front)
San Francisco, CA
US


Synopsis:
It's a typical day in Dogpatch, USA -- except that this sleepy town is about to be wiped off the map. A study has shown it to be the "the most unnecessary, no-account" burgh in the land, and thus ideal for an atomic test site! Well, that just can't be allowed to happen. Particularly if it would interfere with the annual "Sadie Hawkins Race" wherein unmarried girls can claim any man they outrun. Betcha that Mammy Yokum, Daisy Mae and the town's founder Jubilation T. Cornpone will find a singin' and dancin' solution in the nick of time.

Based on the classic comic strip by Al Capp.



Show Advisory:
None


Genre:
Musical


Cast List:
Jason Winfield, Elizabeth Earnhart, Greg MacKellan, Michael Patrick Gaffney, Nina Josephs, Libby Trull, Michael Austin, Matthew Brandon Hutchens, Katya Smirnoff-Skyy, Tony Panighetti, Tom Orr, Brian Rosen, Gemma Barozzi, Benjamin Pither, Molly Coogan, Meghann May, Fiona Cheung.



Production Credits:
Directed by Dyan McBride
Musical director: Dave Dobrusky
Choreography: Tom Segal



Other Credits:
Lyrics by: Johnny Mercer
Music by: Gene de Paul
Book by: Norman Panama and Melvin

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 8:26am

This show has such an infectious score that it's ripe for a Broadway revival. The Encores! version of it a few years ago was a real treat.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 8:39am

this is my dad's favorite show & one of the cast recordings i was raised on!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 9:04am

Before reviving Man of La Mancha or My Fair Lady, please do this one instead

[jimnysf]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 12:49pm

This is the first time I ever saw the show on stage. "42nd Street Moon" does a great job of putting on these "staged concerts". The costumes, the dancing and the singing were all superb. There is a tireless piano player who is amazing. The cast is made up of both Equity and Non-Equity players and there wasn't a weak performer in the cast. I got a discount ticket from Goldstar events so it ended up costing me $18 for a center orchestra seat. The sad part is that the small theatre was not full. I think that may be due in part to the fact that there are a lot of shows running in SF at the moment ("A Chorus Line", "Rent", "Spelling Bee", "Love, Janis" to name a few). I hope people in San Francisco will go support this company so that they will thrive and continue to bring us rarely seen musicals. NY (Brooklyn) has the wonderful Gallery Players and SF has the equally wonderful "42nd Street Moon".

[sidneybruhl]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 5:23pm

Having started a few "Li'l Abner" threads myself, I feel I have to respond. This concert version looks great! I wish I could see it. I've said it before, given the current political climate, I think "Li'l Abner" is ripe for a major revival. Has a song like "The Country's in the Very Best of Hands" ever seemed more current? Someone please mount a Broadway revival of this show!

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 10/12/06 at 2:47am

Did anyone else around here see this?

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 10/12/06 at 8:54am

Seeing this old thread reminds me of the time I saw this wonderful show at the St. James Theatre when I was a teenager.The cast: Peter Palmer as Li'l Abner and Edie Adams as Daisy Mae, with the terrific Stubby Kaye as Marryin'Sam. The pit conductor was the always energetic Lehman Engel. The Michael Kidd choreography was great.The digitally remastered CD has as a bonus track the Sadie Hawkins Day ballet music which is reason enough to buy the CD.

I would love to see this revived. Any ideas as to casting such a revival?

[justagirl2]

Posted: 10/12/06 at 10:40am

That would be interesting...I'd like to see this show revived, because, as sidney said, it really is surprisingly relevant today.

And as a former Stupefyin' Jones, I say the drag queen idea is brilliant.

[AugustBurns2]

Posted: 10/12/06 at 2:05pm

I saw this show at its last performance. It was a fun show with a great cast. That Jason Winfield sure was handsome! The other cast worked hard with costume changes and the songs.

EDIT: I can't believe I didn't mention before - I know the actor who portrayed Stupifying Jones as a drag queen. I couldn't believe it! Though I do know that he sings as his drag queen character in a piano bar here in San Francisco along with his good friend, known as Summer Clearance.

I love the 42nd Street Moon. I've seen Horray for What?, Mack and Mabel, Finnian's Rainbow and Superman the Musical there. They put on shows that I always wonder about - only hearing original cast albums and not knowing the books. Horray for What is ripe for a high school to perform, likewise for Finnian's.

Updated On: 10/12/06 at 02:05 PM

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 10/12/06 at 2:08pm

I saw the Encores! concert. It was very fun, and only Alice Ripley was miscast.

and they had the original Stupefyin' Jones, Julie Newmar...looking like a drag queen.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 10/15/06 at 1:30pm

I'm kind of drawing a blank as to who could be in a revival, Gypsy9. I think Kerry Butler might be good as Daisy, though.

[Josh Freilich]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 3:58pm

I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE WITH EVERYBODY WHO SAID IT: LI'L ABNER DESPERATELY NEEDS A REVIVAL. 'NUFF SAID.

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 4:24pm

42nd Street Moon's Pardon My English starts this Thursday. I'll be there first preview, yay!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 7:14pm

Please revive this instead of My Fair Lady or Man Of La Mancha

[LuPonatic]

Posted: 11/20/06 at 2:40pm

Nathan Lane as Marryin' Sam?
David Hasselhoff as Li'l Abner?