Central characters are the naïve Abner Yokum and beautiful Daisy Mae Scragg. Abner is constantly staying just out of reach of Daisy Mae, who's ready to settle down and start a family.
The production was never revived on Broadway, said Kevin McMahon, a board member with the theater company, but it did play at a small theater in Connecticut, and again in the 1980s with football great Joe Namath cast as Abner.
Musical Theatre Guild specializes in productions such as this, which were popular in their day but are not often produced. The theater gives actors only three days of rehearsal before taking it on stage with a live orchestra, he said. It's a staged reading, with actors carrying their scripts.
"Li'l Abner" is a crowd pleaser, not only for its beloved characters but for the music, McMahon said.
"The score is fantastic," he said. "Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics to the songs. The live orchestra has about 12 musicians. We always hire the best people in town and Mondays are usually their day off, so we get them, and they are happy to be able to play. It's a union contract for them."
And the cartoon characters are remembered by many who read the comic strip, he added.
"So this is a chance to see the characters come to life," he said.
Damon Kirsche, of Valley Village, will play Abner. While it's his first time in the role, Kirsche said he can pull from his youth spent in a small town. He grew up on an organic farm in Windsor, N.D.
"The population numbered 33 when I lived there but there's only 11 people there today," he said.
Kirsche was trained at Juilliard and said he will draw from his past musical theater experiences, including work at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank, to breathe life into Abner.
