As a self-described “city boy from Brooklyn,” Robert Horn admits that he might not seem like the first choice to write the book for a musical adaptation about the cornpone TV show, “Hee Haw,” which ran on CBS and in syndication for more than two decades. But as we learned from our conversation, there’s a good reason he was a natural choice to write “Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical,” which gets its world premiere at the Dallas Theater Center starting Sept. 2 before a planned New York opening in late fall or early 2016. We chatted with Horn about his unlikely connection to the TV show, teaming with country stars Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, and the jokes he had to give up to make the show work.
“Hee Haw” seems like an unusual project for someone who wrote a musical about a boy’s bar mitzvah [Jason Robert Brown’s “13”] and comedy material for Dame Edna.
I know, right? But keep in mind—“Hee Haw” was created by an L.A. guy and written by two Canadians! I grew up watching “Hee Haw.” My grandfather in his early days was a Vaudeville dancer and he loved that humor and style. That became a bonding thing for us, and sort of shaped my humor. [Some time later] I lived in what was basically an orphanage, and [each child] was allowed to pick one hour of TV a week the house could watch. And I picked “Hee Haw.” There was a sense of community and comedy in this little world.
As a writer, what’s the secret to fashioning a book musical around a sketch-comedy TV show from 40 years ago?
Ambien, cuz otherwise I’m just up all night thinking. Honestly, any [two writers] would approach it differently. For me, it was about coming up with a story idea that celebrated the Vaudeville aspect in the exterior rings of the script. But I knew right away I wanted it to be a love story, and I knew I wanted some aspect to be heightened so that the main characters would have pathos and there would be some danger at the heart of the show. I keep bringing it back to the concepts of faith and community. I am the cynical New York guy who has developed a really hard shell, but [the script] has this inherent goodness to it. It’s my wish fulfillment. Plus in Hollywood, they are always telling you to pull it back—it’s too broad, it’s too big, it’s too much. And finally I have this canvas where I can do anything I want!
“Hee Haw” is known for its broadly-drawn characters and slapstick comedy. How much of those elements did you bring into this show?
If you had seen my first draft of the show, you would have seen a lot of franchise material [like the song] “Gloom, Despair and Agony.” They were in there. And what started to happen was, it felt like there were two different shows. So I started building new characters. What I didn’t want was to have Minnie Pearl, or someone representing her, come out. None of the characters are from the original show, but there are aspects and descendents of them. I wanted to create a new world.
“Hee Haw’s” reputation precedes it, and not necessarily in a good way…
That’s a challenge. One of the wonderful things our director, Gary Griffin, did is say, “There may be a perception about this material going in—embrace that; it’s our friend.” The thing I love most about this show is, it’s so relevant and the humor is unexpected. The humor takes you by surprise. We update the franchise and give it a whole new voice and style. It sounds different.
What’s your favorite joke or set-up or character that you did not get to use in the final (or almost-final) draft?
Oh my God, I’ve had to get rid of a lot. But I’d say the cornfield jokes—those were up until about two weeks ago. I used those as interstitials. But ultimately Gary found a way to use the cornfield in a new way and it began to feel like [the jokes weren’t necessary].
Tell us about the collaboration with your composers, country stars Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark.
Shane and Brandy and the most stunning, prolific, funny, and heartfelt songwriters I’ve ever worked with. I hope it feels like it was written by one person, because our humor matches up so perfectly.
What has the process been like working with the Dallas Theater Center?
It has been so amazing. We did a reading in New York and there were six or seven theaters who wanted it to come here. Kevin Moriarty [DTC’s artistic director] really wanted to nurture this show, and is so smart and has embraced us and given us every tool we have asked for. It’s been such a nurturing place to explore and be bad in order to find the good.
“Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical” begins previews on Sept. 2, with an official opening on Sept. 18, and runs through Oct. 11 at the Wyly Theatre.
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