Ann Pugh was at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville when she got the phone call. Would she put together a show for the Heartland Community Theatre’s summer production? She looked around her and saw the set of the original “Hee Haw” television show and an idea was born.
The result: “Heartland Salutes Kornfield Kounty,” an evening of good music and bad jokes delivered “Hee Haw” style by people popping up in a cornfield.
“It’s a corny show,” Ann said.
Ann is the director of the show, July 7, 8 and 9, and is the writer, but points out she didn’t write it as much as assemble it. After choosing the premise, she went on YouTube and watched episodes of the country-style variety show, culling everything that was in the public domain. “Hey Haw,” starring Buck Owens and Roy Clark, ran from 1969 to 1971 on CBS and was produced for another 21 years for other markets and lived on in syndication and spin-offs. The fictional rural location of the show was Kornfield Kounty.
Like Hee Haw, “Heartland Salutes Kornfield Kounty” combines picking and grinning, complete with a salute to the town of Clinton.
Music is by Jerry Day of the “2 Plus 2” band and Jim Lower, a local barber who moonlights as a professional musician in Branson. Also playing guitar is Bill McCoy, who portrays Grandpa Jones, and Joe Trogden, who doubles as the radio news reporter in the classic skit where he mispronounces the words.
The backdrop of the set is a farm, and was originally created by Kent Lower for the “Grand Old Hayride,” a show Heartland Theatre presented 25 years ago. Both Kent and Jim, the Lower brothers, are in the current production, Ann said.
“I couldn’t do it without them,” she said.
Marty Morgan plays country comedian Junior Samples, standing up in the cornfield to trade jokes with Beth Henderson, Tracy Fonke, Jaime Campbell and Hailey Coleman. Hailey is a 2022 Clinton High School graduate making her Heartland Theatre debut. Ann reprises her role from the Grand Old Hayride, Aunt Pearl, complete with straw hat with the price tag still on it. It was the same hat Ann wore in the previous production, she said.
Music includes Jaime Campbell singing “Stand by Your Man” and Bill McCoy doing “Folsom Prison Blues.” At a preview performance on Saturday of Olde Glory Days, Jaime and the Kornfield gals sang “I’ll Fly Away,” and in a duet with Jerry Day, Jaime sang the “Hee Haw” classic, “You met another and PFFT! you were gone.”
“This isn’t a quarter of it,” Ann said of the preview, which lasted half an hour. “There’s a whole lot more corny jokes and more schtick.”
Some members of the audience at the preview were too young to remember the television show, but said they liked the music and found the Heartland show funny. They may have been prejudiced, being Jerry Day’s grandchildren: Gwen, 8, Ariiyana, 8 and Embree 9. They attended the preview with their cousin, Ella Huggins, and her sister, Abrynn Maxwell.
“It made my day brighter,” Ariyana said of seeing the show.
In addition to playing the prosaic Junior, Marty Morgan restored the set backdrop and designed the corn field. He put the corn field together with Ann’s help and that of Jacob Gregory, an Eagle Scout. Westlake Ace Hardware loaned hay bales for the production, and Creative Paints provided paint for the stage floor.
Jim Lower is the show’s music director. Clyde Pugh is on lighting, and Sheri Dody is doing sound. Beth anchors the cornfield humor as emcee and assistant stage manager.
“I’m so blessed to work with these folks,” Ann said, noting that everyone is a volunteer. “They are so committed to making it happen.”
Tickets are $10 and are available at the door, and at the Remax Truman Lake office (on Highway 7 S. on the east edge of town), the Clinton Chamber of Commerce and the Barbary, where Jim Lower works. Both the Chamber and the barber shop are just off the Clinton Square. The show lasts an hour and a half, and is suitable for families. Refreshments are served at intermission.
Evening performances are at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 7, Friday, July 8, and Saturday, July 9, with a matinee Saturday at 2 p.m. Call 660-351-5288 for more information.
The theater’s fall production is “Moonlight & Magnolias,” Nov. 10 through Nov. 13. On Dec. 10 and 11, they are presenting “Letters to Santa from the Elf Mailroom at the North Pole.” The Mistletoe Homes Tour, a fundraiser for the not-for-profit organization, is Dec. 4.
Heartland Community Theatre is also participating in the Clinton Wine Stroll on Oct. 22. The theater, formerly the Crest movie theater, offers a free Monthly Movie Matinee at 2 p.m. on the fourth Sunday of every month, with a classic movie and free popcorn.
Heartland Community Theatre is located at 108 N. Washington, Clinton, MO 64735.
