Li'l Abner (musical)

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For the film based on the musical, see Li'l Abner

Li'l Abner is a musical with a book by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, music by Gene De Paul, and lyrics by Johnny Mercer.

Based on the comic strip Li'l Abner by Al Capp, the show is, on the surface, a broad spoof of hillbillies but is also a pointed satire taking on any number of topics, ranging from an incompetent United States federal government to standards of masculinity.

The plot centers on two things: first, Dogpatch, the town that is the main setting of the comic strip, has been declared the "most unnecessary town" in the U.S. and is set to be turned into a nuclear testing site; second, the water that Li'l Abner has been drinking all of his life is discovered to be a potion that makes men strong and handsome, but also utterly uninterested in sex.

The town is ultimately saved when a plaque is discovered declaring that its local hero, the Confederate general Jubilation T. Cornpone was, by virtue of his incompetence, so instrumental in the defeat of his own army as to be a hero of the Republic.

The Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Michael Kidd, opened on November 15, 1956 at the St. James Theatre, where it ran for 693 performances. The original cast starred Peter Palmer in the title role and Edie Adams as Daisy Mae. Other prominent cast members were Howard St. John as General Bullmoose, Stubby Kaye as Marryin' Sam, Charlotte Rae as Mammy Yokum (Li'l Abner's mother), Tina Louise as Appassionata von Climax, Julie Newmar as Stupifyin' Jones, Carmen Alvarez as Moonbeam McSwine, Ted Thurston as Senator Phogbound, and Tony Mordente as Lonesome Polecat.