Li’l Abner to Open in June on Three Lakes Stage

orthwoods audiences will be treated to the humor and nonsense of Al Capp’s classic cartoon-turned-musical Li’l Abner when the Three Lakes Theater Company presents its twelfth production in June.

“We wanted to do something completely different from our past shows,” commented TLTC Marketing Director Linda Goldsworthy.  “This show is filled with laughs from the beginning to the end.  Anyone who attends is sure to spend quite a bit of time snickering at the antics of Mammy Yokum, Marryin’ Sam, and Li’l Abner and his lazy, good-for-nothing cronies.  It’s truly a hoot—just don’t take it too seriously!”

With productions scheduled for June15-17 and June 22-23, preparations for the show have already begun. 

“We anticipate that tryout announcements will be forthcoming sometime in February,” said Goldsworthy.  “This production will be larger than 2005’s cast of eleven.  However, creative director Mari Lynn Garbowicz and the musical direction team have yet to work out the specifics. Cast members can expect to have a lot of fun with this show.”

Li’l Abner opened on November 15, 1956 at the St. James Theatre in New York City and ran for 693 performances. 

Based on Al Capp’s cartoon by the same name, the production centers on the denizens of Dogpatch, USA.  Leisure time is of utmost importance to Dogpatchers, who take great pride in labor-intensive pastimes such as drinking Kickapoo Joy Juice and fishing. 

Life in hillbilly land is soon disrupted though when the US government announces that Dogpatch has been deemed the most unnecessary town in the whole country and will therefore be used as a nuclear testing site.  As a result, everyone is told to evacuate. 

This announcement doesn’t set well with several citizens, including Mammy Yokum and the beguiling Daisy Mae, who had hoped to finally “catch” the elusive Li’l Abner Yokum, during the Sadie Hawkins Day Dance. According to Dogpatch tradition, women chase the men and can marry whatever they catch.

In the town square, beneath a statue of a local Confederate war hero, General Jubilation T. Cornpone, the citizens rally to prevent the annihilation of their beloved home town.  In the process, government officials learn of Mammy Yokum's special Yokumberry Tonic — a wonder drug, or so it seems, that builds muscular bodies such as the buff Li’l Abner and his vagrant cronies. 

Scientists in Washington begin testing Mammy's potion to see if it does what it claims; the concept being that Dogpatch may be spared from atomic annihilation if "necessary" comes out of it.

But the tonic, it turns out, is a disaster.  While it makes men tall and muscular, it also drains them of all romantic interest. So the plan to nuke Dogpatch is reinstated...but it is later called off — this time, permanently — when it is discovered that Abe Lincoln named the statue of Jubilation T. Cornpone in the Dogpatch town square as a national shrine since General Cornpone single-handedly helped the Union win the war.

They’ve got what it takes

Liebscher, Ribbe Move from Supporting Roles to Leads

Even the World's Dirtiest Wrestler, Earthquake McGoon, knows better than to cross Mammy Yokum, played by Jackie Ribbe. In her first lead with the Three Lakes Theater Company, Ribbe admitted that the lines were the easy part.  Walking with her knees bowed outward and reacting physically to every line on stage, however, was the biggest challenge of playing this role.  Garbowicz said that Ribbe's physical tryout really helped to solidify their decision-making process--not her voice. (Photo by Kurt Krueger)

he began in the chorus of Cinderella, moved onto the rebellious Jewish girl named Chava in Fiddler on the Roof, played the roles of a munchkin, jitterbug, poppy and Ozian in The Wizard of Oz, and a suicidal police officer who was first to convert in Godspell.  But Thursday evening will find her stomping around stage in her first-ever lead role, Mammy Yokum.

He started out as an incompetent towel-waving waiter, graduated to an adept dancing cowboy, regressed to a flying monkey, and tomorrow night he will play the male lead in “Li’l Abner.”

Just what is it that would persuade Three Lakes Theater Company cast members Jeff Liebscher and Jackie Ribbe to move from the background to the foreground in a production?

According to Liebscher, getting the lead in the June 15-17 and 22-24 musical productions of “Li’l Abner” was simply a shock. 

“I thought Mari Lynn made a mistake,” recalled Liebscher, speaking of TLTC creative director Mari Lynn Garbowicz. “I thought that it was a joke.  I'd only had little roles.  I called her and told her that I thought she needed to reconsider.”

  Liebscher found out about his ‘terrifying’ rise to stardom via an e-mail. “I had just got done with work and was playing a game to relax a bit.”

He noticed that wife Kara had an e-mail.   And there it was. “Kara thought it was cool,” recalled Liebscher, but just the thought of it was ‘terrifying.’

Although Ribbe didn’t use the word ‘terrifying’ to describe her reaction to being cast as Mammy Yokum, she did admit, “I was very surprised.  We did ‘Li’l Abner’ in high school and I was part of the chorus. What I remember most about the production is that my brother Bryan was the senator.”

A graduate of West DePere High School , Ribbe was active in the music department where she participated in swing choir and chorus. 

That just might be the reason Liebscher feels himself at a bit of a disadvantage on stage. 

Admitting that he was more of an athlete than musician at Three Lakes High School , Liebscher related the following about his April tryout for ‘Li’l Abner.’

“When I came and auditioned, I had to turn around and face the other way when I sang ‘Make You Feel My Love.’”  So rather than facing musical director Beth Jacobson, Garbowicz, and Nancy Anderson, Liebscher chose to face the back wall. 

So what was his biggest fear upon finding that he would be facing a 500+ audience within a few months?

“I was worried that I wouldn't be able to remember any of the lines and wouldn't be able sing any of the songs,” smiled Liebscher as he recalled the days leading up to the first practices.  “I can go to Schneider’s and sing with the bar packed, but the first night that I had to sing Typical Day it seemed like longer it (time until the song came up) went on, the more terrified I became.  But after I did it once or twice, it wasn't that bad.”

For Ribbe it’s not the lines or singing that have given her the most worry. “I don't find the role hard to play,” she said. “But walking bent over all time is painful on the body.  I have to look grannyish.”

But playing Mammy has also forced her to unlearn things she’d done since high school.  “I have to sing a solo at the end of the song ‘Typical Day,’” recalled Ribbe, laughing at what she heard come out of Jacobson and Garbowicz once she began to sing. “It was the first time someone told me that I had to sing bad.”

But Ribbe is fully aware of the importance of her character to the production and also names that as another difference between being a supporting member of the cast as opposed to a lead.

“Pulling her (Mammy Yokum) off is important for the show.  I really want to do that well for the rest of the cast.  This is the biggest part I've ever had so I tried to memorize my lines early. I knew that I would have to work on my body and how to act,” said Ribbe. 

For those unfamiliar with Li’l Abner, Al Capp’s classic cartoon-turned-musical, Mammy is a forced to be reckoned with.  Known for her ever-present corncob pipe and the phrase ‘I has spoken,’ Mammy’s characterization is certainly a key to pulling off this production. 

Ribbe even admitted to watching a few episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies for some ideas about pulling off this domineering matriarch.

Liebscher puts the amount of preparation that’s gone into playing this role by alluding to what work he’d done for previous productions.

“Nothing,” smiled Liebscher recalling the old days in the TLTC.  “I did nothing in preparation for my roles.  It seemed in the past that the practices lasted forever, but this year they nights shoot by so fast.  I can't believe it’s 9 o’clock already. In the past, I dreaded those long nights.”

Both Ribbe and Liebscher confess to changing their habits during their spring vacations this year.

“When we go on vacation, I always read a book. But this year I didn't even bring a book, I just read the script.” noted Liebscher on changes in his preparation techniques. “I also read the script in the morning and drink tea.”   

“I took along the script on our spring break vacation and I had my son Ben read it to me at night. But what's funny is that all of my kids know the lines that come around mine. I'm sure any of my kids could be a stand-in if I couldn't do the show,” laughed Ribbe. “Even my 4-year-old Grace knows the lines.”

But all kidding aside, Ribbe admits to learning a lot more about herself in the last few months. “I've learned that I can do more than I gave myself credit for.  I've learned how to be on stage—from projecting to the way you carry yourself.  I’ve also learned a lot about blocking and all the things that come with that.”

Liebscher came in early to practices throughout the year to learn to sing better and try to learn how to read music.  But he also has had to learn a bit about having thicker skin.

“My softball buddies make fun of me because I'd rather sing and dance than go play ball,” explained Liebscher.  “They all call me Li’l Abner, and then they giggle. But I’ll be back to softball the day after the shows ends.” 

No doubt Liebscher will be thankful at that tournament that he’s being called ‘Li’l Abner’ instead of ‘incompetent towel-waving waiter.’

Page last updated on 02/26/2008