Los Angeles Times
2/8/2008
By Charlotte Stoudt
Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee would probably both enjoy it. Infectiously good-natured and delivered with vim, the Reprise! production of "Li'l Abner" at the Freud Playhouse manages to affirm idealism, skewer Washington corruption and insist on the dignity of yokels. While a lot of scantily clad people sing and dance.
With music by Gene de Paul ("Seven Brides for Seven Brothers"), lyrics by Johnny Mercer and a book by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, this tale of true love and down-in-the-holler grit, based on Al Capp's long-running satirical comic strip, doesn't rise to the level of the best golden age musicals. But it shares the same vibe as "The Pajama Game" and "Oklahoma!": an exuberant celebration of everyday people and their tribe.
Capp's eccentric Yokum family -- Mammy, Pappy and their brawny son, Abner -- made their debut during the Depression, but this 1956 Broadway hit is all Cold War. It's just another lazy day in the boondocks, a.k.a. Dogpatch U.S.A., when Sen. Jack S. Phogbound (Joel Brooks) shows up with big news. The hillbilly enclave has been declared "the most unnecessary, no account town" in the whole country, so the government has decided to use it for nuclear testing. Evacuations must begin immediately. Bad news for the comely Daisy Mae (Brandi Burkhardt), who hopes to catch her commitment-phobic beloved L'il Abner (Eric Martsolf) on Sadie Hawkins Day, a backwoods rite when women run into the hills, tag a man and drag him to the altar.
Unless Dogpatchers can prove that their town has value, Sadie Hawkins country will be blown off the map and Daisy Mae'll become an old maid. (After all, she is 18.) Mammy (Cathy Rigby) saves the day by revealing that her strapping boy got his big muscles from drinking a special elixir made from a Kickapoo tree that grows only in her backyard. The town is spared until the treacherous Gen. Bullmoose (Fred Willard) decides to steal the elixir's recipe and marry Abner off to Appassionata Von Climax (Jamie Luner).
It's all about as credible as a recent season of "24," but the cast delivers this hokum with grace because they don't sell it too hard. Director Michael Michetti, musical director Darryl Archibald and choreographer Lee Martino work in impressive harmony, sustaining an easy, assured tone throughout the evening. And right when "Abner" reaches the limit of goof, it breaks into pure dance: The exhilarating Sadie Hawkins ballet almost feels like some old folk pageant.
Reprise! has scored some casting coups -- Andrea Marcovicci in "Finian's Rainbow," David Hyde Pierce in "The Boys from Syracuse," many others -- and for this production too, the talent's shown up. As comic strip sweethearts, Burkhardt and Martsolf resist the temptation to comment on their line-drawn characters, instead winning us over by keeping it simple, especially when singing "Namely You" and "If I Had My Druthers."
Michael Kostroff, who has spent five years defending Baltimore's drug lords on "The Wire," plays Marryin' Sam with the light touch of a happy con man. His ironic duet with Martsolf, "The Country's in the Very Best of Hands," is one of the night's highlights.
Joel Brooks dithers nicely as Phogbound. And if Rigby's maternal hectoring doesn't strike fear into our hearts, the gymnast's quick, elastic physicality does evoke Capp's kinetic drawing style. Only the usually bulletproof Willard seems a little off his game. Is he channeling Garrison Keillor? Or just having an allergic reaction to that small dog he's wearing above his lip?
Mammy may prize her Kickapoo elixir, but Dogpatch's real treasure is Johnny Mercer. This country boy from Georgia taught city folk how to be urbane in songs such as "Blues in the Night" and "Moon River," and "Abner" is yet another showcase for his exquisitely nonchalant phraseology. Mercer never met a word he couldn't coax into a lyric. (Abner and friends sitting around fishing: "This thing called employment/Detracts from my enjoyment/And tightens my diaphragm.") The lighter his language shrugs, the deeper it seems to reach.
Never mind the ludicrous plot, just give in to the music. Even the mad scientist with a Strangelove twitch (Larry Cedar, delirious) has gotta dance when De Paul and Mercer work their magic. Corny, silly, so old-fashioned: "Abner's" guilty on all counts. And a total pleasure.
Variety
2/8/2008
By Terry Morgan
The years have been kind to "Li'l Abner," the musical based on Al Capp's long-running comic strip. Capp's larger-than-life characters, proudly parading such pungent monikers as Tobacco Rhoda or Moonbeam McSwine, are brought to rowdy life in Norman Panama and Melvin Frank's quick-witted book, as rudely vital as the collected crooks in "Guys and Dolls." Reprise! Broadway's Best production at UCLA's Freud Playhouse could be used as a primer on how to revive a rarely done piece, with Michael Michetti's superb direction, Lee Martino's exuberant choreography and a generally fantastic cast combining to create a deeply enjoyable show.
Down in rural Dogpatch, strapping Li'l Abner (Eric Martsolf) spends his time fishing and avoiding the romantic intentions of the gorgeous Daisy Mae (Brandi Burkhardt). This bucolic setting is disrupted, however, when government scientist Dr. Finsdale (Larry Cedar) informs the town that it has been chosen as the most unnecessary in the U.S., and will be shortly used for atomic bomb tests unless some reason to spare it can be found. Mammy Yokum (Cathy Rigby) shows Finsdale her "yokumberry potion," which has made Abner into the hunk that he is. When Finsdale's boss, General Bullmoose (Fred Willard) realizes the possible fortune to be gained from this potion, he forces Abner to leave Dogpatch, and Daisy Mae, behind.
Martsolf and Burkhardt are well cast as Abner and Daisy Mae, comedically adept and blessed with strong singing voices; their duets on "Namely You" and "Love in a Home" are outstanding.
Rigby makes for a wry and spry Mammy Yokum, and Robert Towers is amusing as the often overruled Pappy Yokum. Michael Kostroff brings a serene charm to Marryin' Sam, and his delivery of the songs "Jubilation T. Cornpone" and "I'm Past My Prime" is jovial and expert.
Cedar is politely loony as Finsdale, and his bravura take on "Oh Happy Day" is a joyful showstopper. Willard is a master of dry wit, and he's delightful here. Finally, Jamie Luner is properly daffy as the operatically named Appassionata Von Climax, and Gary Franco brings deliciously stylish physical comedy as Evil Eye Fleagle.
Michetti keeps the energy high throughout, makes sure that every zinger gets heard, and most of all remembers that this show is meant to be fun. Martino outdoes herself with dynamic dance numbers, particularly the ambitious Sadie Hawkins Day ballet, where the plot moves forward entirely through the graceful choreography. Darryl Archibald's music direction spotlights the skill of a first-rate orchestra, and reminds one of the pleasures of musical overtures.
Bradley Kaye's comicstrip backdrop sets effectively create a nostalgic mood, and Thomas G. Marquez's costumes are impressively detailed, from Daisy Mae's skimpy wedding dress to the bullet hole in the mayor's hat. Ensemble: Seth Belliston, Yusuf Nasar, Christian Boeving, TJ Hoban, Jeff Soskin, Kim Arnett, Louis Becker, Seth Belliston, Zaylin Bescoby, Wilkie Ferguson, Ray Garcia, Lauren Melendez, Kim Mikesell, Yusuf Nasar, Leslie Stevens, John Todd, Debbie Zaltman
Sets, Bradley Kaye; costumes, Thomas G. Marquez; lighting, Tom and Donna Ruzika; sound, Philip G. Allen; music direction, Darryl Archibald; choreography, Lee Martino; production stage manager, Jill Gold. Opened Feb. 5, 2008, reviewed Feb. 6; runs through Feb. 17. Running time: 2 HOURS, 30 MIN.
