Jill Hanson leads the comedy team for Little Ole Opry at Little Theatre on the Bay in North Bend. World Photo by Lou Sennick

Jill Hanson describes herself as a poor man’s Minnie Pearl.

In her 25th year as comedy director for the Little Ole Opry, Hanson promises her funniest show ever for the season opener Saturday at Little Theatre on the Bay in North Bend.

But it was a different kind of anniversary — Mike and Mel Campbell’s 50th wedding anniversary — that inspired the main comedy skit for the show.

The Campbells will renew their vows Saturday as part of a skit that includes a Baptist minister, a rabbi, the pope and a dozen pregnant bridesmaids. Formal attire will include white shotguns, and we’re not sure how farm animals are involved.

Mel Campbell, a longtime member of the Opry comedy team, wanted to celebrate her anniversary in the theater and asked Hanson to write a skit about a hillbilly wedding, and the result has generated more than the usual amount of laughter from the cast.

“There’s such a joy in that,” Hanson said, and she hopes to bring it to her audiences. “My role is to make them forget about their troubles for two hours. That’s an honor to me. Laughter is the best medicine.”

Also set for the season opener are appearances by Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Marie Osmond and other celebrities. Director Josie Reid asked performers to extend the theme of “Country Western Classics” by impersonating the stars whose songs they’ll be singing.

The lineup includes Rachel Thurman as Dolly Parton “with a wig and boobs and everything,” Reid said, as well as Tom Barnett as Elvis, Reid as Osmond, Tara Thompson as Loretta Lynn, Shirley Kintner as Patsy Cline, Alyssa Birrer as Carrie Underwood, Ron Nance as Roy Orbison, Cassie Justice as Anne Murray, Jill Hayner-Thompson as Judy Collins, and Opry band leader Dave Ford as Willie Nelson.

Reid said the idea for the impersonations grew from a 1980s Opry show in which she, Hanson and Dick Booth all dressed as Dolly Parton in identical outfits.

In the early days of Opry, Reid said, comedy skits originated as a filler during microphone changes, because the show was broadcast live on radio and they didn’t want dead air. Hanson said she and Marty Crouse appeared as Millie and Maudie, popping up out of windows in the set’s barn to do short, “Hee Haw”-style jokes — which nobody heard, because the band played over them.

The jokes have since grown into a 15-member comedy team that plays an integral part of the show and keeps Hanson occupied year-round in the search for material and the development of costumes and props.

“I have two rooms in my house with drawers full of props,” Hanson said. “If somebody says to me, ‘Gee, Jill, do you have a rubber chicken?’ I say, ‘How many do you want?’ My living room in the summer looks like a nuthouse.”

The comedy team also helps carry the theme of each week’s show with their costumes, Reid said.

Among the new features of this Opry season, Reid reorganized the order of the weekly themes, moving “’50s Rock and Roll” from the fourth week to the second. Instead of saving the most popular show for near the end of the season, when all that follows is the closing “Best of Opry” weekend, Reid said she wanted to get the momentum building quicker. Traditionally, many of the Opry shows sell out — though Reid said that doesn’t mean people shouldn’t try to get tickets — but with the new order, Reid hopes each of the shows sells out faster.

The season lineup follows:

n Saturday, “Country Western Classics,” with the star impersonations.

n July 12, “’50s Rock and Roll.”

n July 19, “Hot New Country,” which emphasizes contemporary radio stars such as Underwood, Sara Evans and Sugarland.

n July 26, “Traditional and Cowboy,” which features bluegrass and goes back before the ’50s to the cowboy era of Hank Williams, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.

n Aug. 2-3, “Best of Opry,” a collection of performances from previous weeks.

LTOB already relies on Opry as its primary revenue generator, but the nonprofit theater is always looking for more. Also new this year is a fundraising challenge in which the Opry audience will be asked to raise $20,000 by the end of the season to build a first-floor restroom at LTOB to meet ADA guidelines.

Reid also mentioned a host of new performers joining Opry, including harmonica player Cecelia LoForti-Mueller, 11-year-old Rachel Sheldon, Misty Speakman, Fred Larsen, Colleen James and Roger Sims. Many other performers are returning, including Ray Silvia, Doris Smith, Pam de Jong, the Young Bucs, Abby Collings and Clint Guevara.

A new drummer, Danny Richardson, joins the Opry band, which includes Ford, Bill Berrian, Doug Jones and Dwain Rayburn.

Hanson noted that the small-town setting is key to bringing all these different people together on stage.

“I feel lucky to be in a small enough town that you can do this type of thing,” she said. “In a big town you’d have to be a professional actor.”

Performances are at 8 p.m. Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 3. All tickets are $12 and sold reserved.