A Li'l Bit of L'il Abner
In 1956, long before comic strip icons Superman, Charlie Brown and Annie became lead characters in Broadway musicals, there was Li'l Abner. Al Capp's famed comic strip about the rustic inhabitants of Dogpatch, U.S.A. began in 1934 and continued into 1977. Thus, a little more than halfway into the run, Broadway got to meet Li'l Abner Yokum (Peter Palmer), his irascible Mammy (Charlotte Rae), his henpecked Pappy (Joe …