Another Show

I volunteered for lights with Lil' Abner a while back. I'm not much for musicals anyway I got to the point where I dreaded hearing the Into The Woods songs last summer.

Lil' Abner just isn't funny though, it isn't the actors, director, or anything. The material just isn't funny to me. I was wanting to cut my ears off with a plastic knife last night. The material has an outdated story, the comic strip hasn't been in the papers for years and few if any people under twenty will get it. Dogpatch USA just hasn't been in the pop culture realm in so long it's become irrelevant.

The theme park is gone leaving memories of what was once Dogpatch. There is nothing to touch base with and find out who these people are as fictional characters. At one time it was different as you could read them daily and see their adventures. Then you could have a bit of background on why they were who they were, you could see your favorite characters come to life on stage.

Now it just is a musical for people over thirty with material that is more in line for children. It's an odd composition.

Lights seem to be fairly simple though, lights on, lights off. I found one place that I can dim them and shut some down when Abner and Daisy Mae are singing to each other for the seemingly last time. Other than that I can't find places that benefit from dim, lots of color, low lights, or high lights. There are always lots of people on stage so there has to be lots of light to make sure everyone is lighted properly.

It'll be an easy show to accomplish. Kudos to the actors and directors who have done a good job with material that didn't give them a lot to work with. Kudos to the musicians too who are playing the music live and it's difficult music at that!