Broadway: Shucked

Like it says on the can, Shucked is a corny new musical that’s taking Broadway by storm.

If you had told me one of my picks of the season would be a musical about corn, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. The buzz around this show is what really sold me, and once I heard about it, I felt committed to the bit of going to see the show to find out what it’s about.

There’s no punchline and no innuendo — this is a musical about corn. And community. And hope. And determination.

But let’s get into what this musical is doing right.

This musical has pleasantly surprised so many, which laregly stems from its back to basics approach. The story is a very basic plot, it’s conveyed through a classic musical structure, and it’s just fun—and it works! The musical’s main goal is to make audiences laugh and I think that simplicity is something we haven’t seen on stage for some time.

I had no expectations walking in, but I ended up really enjoying this show. The performances were outstanding, the show had some fun visual stoytelling, and the songs were catchy. Shucked isn’t meant to be deep, it’s meant to draw you into the small world of Cobb County, and let you hang out with a band of characters for two hours.

The cast of this production really brings the heart to the show.

Caroline Innerbichler steals the hearts of the audience as Maizy, the leading lady of the show. Innerbichler takes the audience on Maizy’s journey of wanting to do good and help the people she loves. She captures the warmth and determination Maizy has, while balancing it with her stubborness to accept that not everyone has as pure intentions as she does. I loved her ‘I want’ song, “Walls,” and loved the ballads Maizy gets to sing throughout the show.

Keeping the audience laughing as Storyteller 2, Grey Henson, who you might recognize from Mean Girls, brings superb comedic timing and comic relief to the show along with Ashley D. Kelley as Storyteller 1. Henson does an amazing job of playing one of the show’s two narrators who has intentionally corny jokes and off beat humor. It was fun to get to see him banter with Kelley on stage as well as how they interact with the world of Cobb County.

Of course we can’t talk about Shucked without talking about Alex Newell‘s performance as Lulu. Lulu has a showstopping number in the middle of act I, “independantly owned,” which Newell performs so brilliantly and with such ease. Newell effortlessly balances comedy and confidence on stage, and it was a joy to get to see them perform live.

Something I want to highlight about this musical is it’s marketing tactic, which has been a really hot topic. We all know broadway is a business—a business of filling seats— and it’s so hard to do that with an original musical. I would say Shucked’s approach to marking was a bit unconventional by Broadway standards, but a peek into Broadway marketing in the era of social media. The aura of “come see to find out” that they presented created a lot of buzz, and by targeting highly specific audiences, such as high-profile theatre influencers, they created this air of mystery around the show itself and it helped the show take off.

I think a lot of the marketing also is square on the nose for the show itself. It’s a bit of a tongue-in-cheek comedy, and creating marketing pieces that say “I got Shucked on Broadway” just displays the humor of the show for the general public to see. It’s a lot fo fun, and might have been a risk for the show, but was pulled off extremely well.

I am personally fasicnated by the different approaches we see various shows take to marketing in this present era of social media, and how quickly Broadway has been thrust into using social media and influencer marketing to keep afloat post-pandemic.

Shucked took a risk in their marketing tactic and I think so far it has paid off really well for them. It will be interesting to see how that continues to play out as we go into the summer months and during and after awards season.

If you’re looking for a new musical comedy to check out, I highly recommend Shucked! I feel like I am personally hard to impress with a comedy, and I lean more towards melodramas for the reason that comedy is really hit and miss. Shucked does a great job of being funny without being too slapstick or without overly using adult humor to the point of excess. Just some good, classic musical theatre.

Shucked is a musical comedy with a book by Robert Horn and music and lyrics by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. The Broadway production began previews at the Nederlander Theatre on March 8, 2023 and opened on April 4, 2023. The show was first performed in 2022 at the Pioneer Memorial Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah.