According to the Associated Press a new musical based on the long-running country themed comedy show Hee-Haw will be taking the stage in Dallas later this year.  The TV show which featured country music greats Roy Clark and Buck Owens as hosts and followed the format of “Laugh-In” was much panned during its run on CBS from 1969-1971.  The show outlived the critics and was syndicated and broadcast to a large audience for another 20 years.

“Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical” will make its world premiere at Dallas Theater Center in September and its Grammy Award-nominated co-composer said it will be centered on a love story and feature all new characters.

“I would say they’re 21st century ‘Hee Haw’ characters,” Brandy Clark told The Associated Press on Thursday. “We wouldn’t want to try to just copy those characters. Those characters were too great to just be copied. They’re kind of like the grandchildren of those characters.”  Clark, a Grammy Award-nominee this year for best new artist, is writing the score with Shane McAnally, a two-time Grammy winner who has written songs for Lady Antebellum, Kelly Clarkson and Miranda Lambert. Clark called the songs “a little bit of everything” but they tried to keep the score timeless and classic.

“What we’ve really shot for, Shane and I, was for someone to walk into this musical — maybe someone who thinks they don’t like country music — and, when they leave, say, ‘Wow, if that’s was country music, I love it.'”