Li L Abner

Nobody is going to mistake Broadway's version of cartoonist Al Capp's comic strip Li'l Abner for a classic of the American musical stage. But the characters from Dogpatch, Capp's hillbilly hamlet, are as bright and fun as the show's tuneful 1950s score. When Abner, his ever-loyal Daisy Mae, Mammy and Pappy Yokum, the singing clergyman Marryin' Sam and the rest of the Dogpatchers come together to stomp with high kickin' abandon, the results can be mighty pleasin' indeed. That is assuredly the case at Key Auditorium on the campus of St. John's College in Annapolis, where the Talent Machine has revved into high gear under the direction of Nicole Roblyer and choreographer Vicki Smith.

Common Ground concert series Common Ground on the Hill will present a series of nightly concerts and dances the weeks of July 3 and July 10 in conjunction with its Traditions Weeks workshops at McDaniel College in Westminster. The public is invited to attend the concerts at 8 p.m. the week of July 3 and 7 p.m. the week of July 10. Tickets are $10 for most events. A Common Ground Grand Dance will be held July 3 and 10 in the Forum. Concerts are: Blues Night, July 4 and 12; July 5, 6, 7, 11 and 14, staff concerts; and July 13, student open mike, all in Alumni Hall.

As it approaches its 20th season, the Pasadena Theatre Company can look back on a history of shows such as "Noises Off," "Jesus Christ Superstar," "A Little Night Music," "The Madwoman of Chaillot" and "The Heidi Chronicles."A history to be proud of, and now Pasadena is marking the end of an era with "Li'l Abner." This production will be the last show at Baldwin Hall, the company's home for 14 years."Li'l Abner" re-creates Al Capp's comic-strip world. The 1956 show, with music by Gene De Paul and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, focuses on the simple inhabitants of Dogpatch, who learn their town is so worthless, the U.S. government plans to use it as an atomic bomb test site.

Nobody is going to mistake Broadway's version of cartoonist Al Capp's comic strip Li'l Abner for a classic of the American musical stage. But the characters from Dogpatch, Capp's hillbilly hamlet, are as bright and fun as the show's tuneful 1950s score. When Abner, his ever-loyal Daisy Mae, Mammy and Pappy Yokum, the singing clergyman Marryin' Sam and the rest of the Dogpatchers come together to stomp with high kickin' abandon, the results can be mighty pleasin' indeed. That is assuredly the case at Key Auditorium on the campus of St. John's College in Annapolis, where the Talent Machine has revved into high gear under the direction of Nicole Roblyer and choreographer Vicki Smith.

The citizens of Dogpatch USA invite you to the North County High School auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday to see the musical comedy, "Li'l Abner."The play is set in the tiny hick town, which has just learned that the federal government has declared Dogpatch "the most unnecessary place in the country" and plans to move the townsfolk and build a nuclear testing site.This throws an interesting twist into the annual Sadie Hawkins Day celebrations as the citizens of Dogpatch search for a way to save their town.

It's July in Annapolis and the summer theater season is about to rev into high gear, powered in no small measure by the Talent Machine Company - founded by director, choreographer and showbiz dynamo Bobbi Smith, who died in 2001. Talented junior thespians appear in a pair of productions each summer, one populated by the troupe's younger members, the other by the gifted performers who attend area high schools. This year, the younger set takes the stage first at Key Auditorium on the campus of St. John's College for Li'l Abner, the 1950s musical that brought cartoonist Al Capp's daffy and delightful denizens of Dogpatch to Broadway and, later, the silver screen.

Willard Waterman, 80, a radio and television personality and founding member of the American radio union, died of bone marrow disease Thursday in Burlingame, Calif. He began his radio career in Chicago in 1934, performing 40 shows a week. His shows included "The Great Gildersleeve," "Guiding Light," "Ma Perkins," "Amos 'n' Andy," "The Whistler," "Li'l Abner," "My Friend Irma" and "Helen Trent."

Picture-postcard Annapolis -- sailing capital and historic city -- is at its best in summer. And the surest signs that summer is upon us are Commissioning Week at the U.S. Naval Academy and the opening of a new season at the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre.The academy's class of 1997 is to be commissioned tomorrow. And "Leader of the Pack," a Tony award-winning show packed with rock 'n' roll classics, opens Saturday at the theater.It is one of three summer productions scheduled by the theater at City Dock.

The 50-member Arundel Vocal Arts Society concluded its 15th season Saturday with "Songs for My Uncle Sam -- An American Songbook," a rousing production directed by Glenette Schumacher and accompanied by Cynthia Slate on piano, Helen Schlaich on woodwind, Ginger Turner on trumpet, Peter Hengen on bass and William Watson on percussion.The program was a patriotic melange drawn from musical theater, folk songs, and pop songs of the World War II era. The society presented a Broadway combination, including a song from Johnny Mercer's seldom-heard "Li'l Abner," familiar George M. Cohan tunes of "George M" and most of the songs from the less familiar "1776."

Common Ground concert series Common Ground on the Hill will present a series of nightly concerts and dances the weeks of July 3 and July 10 in conjunction with its Traditions Weeks workshops at McDaniel College in Westminster. The public is invited to attend the concerts at 8 p.m. the week of July 3 and 7 p.m. the week of July 10. Tickets are $10 for most events. A Common Ground Grand Dance will be held July 3 and 10 in the Forum. Concerts are: Blues Night, July 4 and 12; July 5, 6, 7, 11 and 14, staff concerts; and July 13, student open mike, all in Alumni Hall.

It's July in Annapolis and the summer theater season is about to rev into high gear, powered in no small measure by the Talent Machine Company - founded by director, choreographer and showbiz dynamo Bobbi Smith, who died in 2001. Talented junior thespians appear in a pair of productions each summer, one populated by the troupe's younger members, the other by the gifted performers who attend area high schools. This year, the younger set takes the stage first at Key Auditorium on the campus of St. John's College for Li'l Abner, the 1950s musical that brought cartoonist Al Capp's daffy and delightful denizens of Dogpatch to Broadway and, later, the silver screen.

The 50-member Arundel Vocal Arts Society concluded its 15th season Saturday with "Songs for My Uncle Sam -- An American Songbook," a rousing production directed by Glenette Schumacher and accompanied by Cynthia Slate on piano, Helen Schlaich on woodwind, Ginger Turner on trumpet, Peter Hengen on bass and William Watson on percussion.The program was a patriotic melange drawn from musical theater, folk songs, and pop songs of the World War II era. The society presented a Broadway combination, including a song from Johnny Mercer's seldom-heard "Li'l Abner," familiar George M. Cohan tunes of "George M" and most of the songs from the less familiar "1776."

I was not prepared to deal with turnips in June. I tend to think of turnips as winter fare, a bulbous root you eat when there is snow on the ground and a bite in the wind. Yet Sunday morning, as I wandered through the farmers' market under the Jones Falls Expressway at Saratoga Street in downtown Baltimore, I had a surprise meeting with a bunch of freshly harvested turnips.They were thrust upon me by Scott Williams, who along with his wife, Cinda Sebastian, and their kids, Carlisle and Waverly, grows vegetables on their Carroll County farm and sells them at area markets.

Carole Joyner Gourley, 59, who wrote the lyrics for the 1957 pop hit "Young Love," died of cancer Dec. 7 in Atlanta. She wrote the song with her guitar-playing sweetheart, Ric Cartey, when she was an 18-year-old high school student. The catchy melody and dreamy lyrics caught on, selling more than 2 million copies in 1957.Versions by Tab Hunter and Sonny James reached the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the Billboard chart, the only time the same song has occupied the top two slots. Over the years, more than 25 million copies have been sold.

As it approaches its 20th season, the Pasadena Theatre Company can look back on a history of shows such as "Noises Off," "Jesus Christ Superstar," "A Little Night Music," "The Madwoman of Chaillot" and "The Heidi Chronicles."A history to be proud of, and now Pasadena is marking the end of an era with "Li'l Abner." This production will be the last show at Baldwin Hall, the company's home for 14 years."Li'l Abner" re-creates Al Capp's comic-strip world. The 1956 show, with music by Gene De Paul and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, focuses on the simple inhabitants of Dogpatch, who learn their town is so worthless, the U.S. government plans to use it as an atomic bomb test site.

Picture-postcard Annapolis -- sailing capital and historic city -- is at its best in summer. And the surest signs that summer is upon us are Commissioning Week at the U.S. Naval Academy and the opening of a new season at the Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre.The academy's class of 1997 is to be commissioned tomorrow. And "Leader of the Pack," a Tony award-winning show packed with rock 'n' roll classics, opens Saturday at the theater.It is one of three summer productions scheduled by the theater at City Dock.

Carole Joyner Gourley, 59, who wrote the lyrics for the 1957 pop hit "Young Love," died of cancer Dec. 7 in Atlanta. She wrote the song with her guitar-playing sweetheart, Ric Cartey, when she was an 18-year-old high school student. The catchy melody and dreamy lyrics caught on, selling more than 2 million copies in 1957.Versions by Tab Hunter and Sonny James reached the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the Billboard chart, the only time the same song has occupied the top two slots. Over the years, more than 25 million copies have been sold.

I was not prepared to deal with turnips in June. I tend to think of turnips as winter fare, a bulbous root you eat when there is snow on the ground and a bite in the wind. Yet Sunday morning, as I wandered through the farmers' market under the Jones Falls Expressway at Saratoga Street in downtown Baltimore, I had a surprise meeting with a bunch of freshly harvested turnips.They were thrust upon me by Scott Williams, who along with his wife, Cinda Sebastian, and their kids, Carlisle and Waverly, grows vegetables on their Carroll County farm and sells them at area markets.

When you snap a cassette into your tape recorder, boot up your personal computer or give a talking doll to your child, you are tapping into the technological legacy of the National Security Agency.Your cassette is a miniature version of the first tape cassettes, monsters with 12-inch reels developed by NSA in the 1960s to provide faster access to eavesdropping tapes.The microchip that permits your child's doll to "speak" probably contains a mathematical formula written by NSA engineers seeking the perfect electronic model for human speech.

Willard Waterman, 80, a radio and television personality and founding member of the American radio union, died of bone marrow disease Thursday in Burlingame, Calif. He began his radio career in Chicago in 1934, performing 40 shows a week. His shows included "The Great Gildersleeve," "Guiding Light," "Ma Perkins," "Amos 'n' Andy," "The Whistler," "Li'l Abner," "My Friend Irma" and "Helen Trent."