REVIEW: "Shucked" at the Nederlander Theatre on September 1, 2023
Based on the 2023 Tony Awards telecast, Jamie W. was so insistent in seeing this show when we made it to NYC that it was inevitable that I responded with major side-eye. Major. So when we bought tickets, I thought it would be a "Hee Haw"-type of revue with plenty of banjo-picking and knee-slapping. Coincidentally, I read that the musical was originally conceived just that way.
Instead the creators wisely developed an actual musical with a book and characters. It was now all about a failed corn crop in rural Cob County and a girl aptly named Maizy. Engaged to her longtime beau Beau, she showed spunk and ventured to the big city (Tampa, FL) where she met a slick "corn doctor" named Gordy. They impulsively decided to marry, and when they returned to Cob County, the inevitable complications ensued.
While the plot may sound decidedly old-fashioned, the comedy was non-stop and consistently clever as the book was written by "Designing Women" veteran Robert Horn. You can hear a touch of the Sugarbakers in the zingy one-liners, especially the ones delivered by Kevin Cahoon who hilariously channeled the late Leslie Jordan as Peanut ("I think people in China must wonder what to call their good plates.")
The catchy music was written by country duo Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. The rest of the cast was uniformly strong. Caroline Innerbichler brought the right amount of pluck to Maizy, and John Behlmann showed off a loose-limbed seediness as Gordy. Andrew Durand performed particularly well with a strong voice as Beau, especially on the rocker "Somebody Will".
The "farm-to-fable" tale was steered energetically by two storytellers (Grey Henson and Ashley D. Kelley) who acted like a Greek chorus to the shenanigans. The standout, however, was Alex Newell as Maizy's sassy cousin Lulu, and she raised the roof with her Act I solo, "Independently Owned". This musical comedy shouldn't have worked, but it more than did.
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