Shucked surprised me so much that I’m rethinking my Tony winner predictions. Shucked may very well win a lot more awards than I first anticipated. Everything was seamless between the music, book, and the costume, and set design.
Shucked takes place on a remote midwestern farm owned by the family of the main character, “Maizy” (Caroline Innerbichler). On the farm lives her cousin: Lulu (Alex Newell), her grandpa (Dwayne Clark), and Peanut (Kevin Cahoon). Maizy is about to marry the love of her life, Beau (Andrew Durand). But before she can tie the knot, she must save her corn that has for some reason refused to grow.
The music was fresh, a mix between country-pop and contemporary musical theatre. The score was written by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. The two are no strangers to country music. In fact, they’ve both written many of todays country hits. Clark and McAnally wrote “Mama’s Broken Heart”, which is famously sung by Miranda Lambert, as well as songs for Kacey Musgraves, and The Band Perry. It’s no wonder why this score feels so authentic and is written in the style of true country music. As a country fan, I was jamming out to this score.
The book was fantastic and loaded with jokes. Of course the jokes were corny, so they’re not for everyone. I’ve said this before, I find it difficult for me to laugh at the jokes in musical theatre, though some of the jokes in Shucked were so ridiculous I couldn’t help but laugh. On the other hand, sometimes the jokes came at me so fast that I began to miss some of them. A lot of them I took too literally and had to think about for a moment, in turn this made me miss the next few jokes. (The audience seemed to react well to all the jokes, so maybe it was just me). I did like how a couple of the jokes broke the fourth wall.
Besides the jokes, the pace of the story was just right. The story is told by two narrators (portrayed by Grey Henson and Ashley D. Kelley) who help the story move from scene to scene smoothly. I told Henson that I thought the character was practically made for him, to which he said, “I’m basically playing myself.” And it’s true, everything about Henson and Kelley’s acting feels incredibly natural. Watching the two just be themselves and bond on stage is magical and one of the great joys of seeing this show.
On top of this, Alex Newell brought down the house. Newell’s voice is powerful and stunning. It was a treasure to see Newell (who is gender nonconforming) preform as a female character. I hate to constantly bring attention to transness because transgender or not Newell is a stunning performer. However, trans representation is severely lacking on Broadway. Therefore, getting to see a trans actor preform in a storyline that has nothing to do with being trans was awesome. All of the actors in this show had such strong voices, making their solos so impactful. Each actor got their own moment to shine.
Another of my favorite parts of the show was the costume design. The bulk of the costumes were made with plaid and denim to create a unique patchwork style. They were certainly my favorite costumes of the season because they closely aligned with my personal stylI think they have a good chance to win Best Costume Design In A Musical at the Tony’s because of their originality, although their costumes weren’t too transformative and complex, giving & Juliet a leg up in the competition.
The set was made mainly out of wood and there was a balcony that went around the stage that was inline with the balcony in the audience. This allowed the set to feel semi-immersive. At times I felt like I was in the barn or out on the corn field with the characters. I liked how the show chose to have ensemble characters in the background. For example, a couple of ensemble characters were simply sitting on the balcony doing things one would do throughout their normal day, like reading. This happened all the while the plot was progressing with the main characters center stage.
The lighting design is somewhat basic, but it did its job. The white and yellow lighting was perfect and reminded me of the sun and you guessed it, corn! And the blue shining through the wood reminded me of blue skies.
Shucked touches on themes of love and highlights the importance of the average citizen who works hard for what they have. This musical radiates love and joy and I hope to see it again.
Me meeting Grey Henson at the stage door!
Meeting Andrew Durand!
I like your shirt!