Li’l Abner (1960)—CARLI Digital Collections Featured Image

Pop culture pop quiz!
Q: What do Mr. Mike Brady, Mr. Spock, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Hawkeye Pierce have in common?

A: You guessed it! The actors who portrayed those iconic characters from television and film all performed at The Little Theatre on the Square in Sullivan, Illinois. Browse through the collection, and you might also encounter Ethel Mertz, Andy Hardy, Dr. David Banner, Kookie, Lisa Miller Hughes Eldridge Shea Colman McColl Mitchell Grimaldi Chedwyn, Todd Tomorrow, and Carmine Ragusa among other familiar faces.

Robert Reed treaded the boards as an architect-turned-painter who dallies with a prostitute in Hong Kong in the 1966 production of The World of Suzie Wong. Leonard Nimoy, if you can believe it, played Randle Patrick McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1974, the year before the Oscar-winning film starring Jack Nicholson was released. In 1961, Margaret Hamilton starred as Dolly Bloomer—an aunt who encourages her rebellious niece in the wearing of a certain style of undergarment—in Bloomer Girl.

M*A*S*H was still a dozen years into the future when Alan Alda appeared on stage in the title role of Li’l Abner. Most playbills from the theater’s early years use a head shot of the headliner on the cover, but Alda had not yet attained that level of star power. Instead, the cover of this program features an illustration by Al Capp, creator of the comic strip on which the musical was based. (Side note: The theater was renamed in 1963 from Grand to Little, referring not to its size but to its founder, Guy S. Little, Jr.)

Not to shamelessly self-promote, but I just happen to know that Booth Library is in the process of scanning thousands of negatives donated by the theater’s longtime photographer David Mobley. These digitized images, which will be added to the existing collection, capture more than twenty years behind the scenes at the Little Theatre. Thanks for playing, and stay tuned!

Written by Ellen K. Corrigan, Assistant Professor, Cataloging Services, Booth Library, Eastern Illinois University

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