Broadway choreography

Who choreographed Li'l Abner?

Michael Kidd was credited for the choreography recognized by the Tony Award.

1 choreography award1 nominationFirst honored 1957

Choreography awards for Li'l Abner

YearAwardChoreographerResult
1957Tony AwardMichael KiddWon

Productions are listed under the year of the award; revivals can bring new choreography — and new nominations — for the same show.

About the show

Li'l Abner is a 1956 musical with a book by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, music by Gene De Paul, and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Based on the comic strip Li'l Abner by Al Capp, the show is, on the surface, a broad spoof of hillbillies, but it is also a pointed satire on other topics, ranging from American politics and incompetence in the United States federal government to propriety and gender roles.

After several other writers and composers considered musicalizing the comic strip, Al Capp finally made a deal in 1955 with the eventual creators for a musical to be financed by Paramount Pictures, which wanted to follow the stage version with a film musical. The Broadway production opened on November 15, 1956, and ran for a moderately successful 693 performances. The score and Michael Kidd's choreography received critical praise, but some critics felt that the book's adaptation lost the spirit of the comic strip. Kidd and Edie Adams, as Daisy Mae, won Tony Awards, while newcomer Peter Palmer, in the title role, won a Theatre World Award. Paramount released a film version with the same title in 1959, with most of the Broadway cast reprising their roles.

From the Wikipedia article “Li'l Abner (musical)”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Award data from Wikipedia lists of Tony, Drama Desk and Olivier choreography awards (CC BY-SA 4.0).