Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – The pun-heavy, sketch-like new musical SHUCKED arrives on Broadway with a whole lot of corn

• By drediman
• April 5, 2023
• No Comments

Last night, an unlikely but undeniably crowd-pleasing new musical landed on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre. That would be Shucked, which arrives on the Great White Way by way of Utah’s Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City. Taking place in a fictitious locale named Cob County, the show tells the Music Man-like tale of a man of dubious intentions who arrives to doctor the county’s bout with its waning staple (you got it, corn!). Suffice to say, shenanigans ensue and all ends well, lessons neatly learned and all.

The sketch-like book by Robert Horn (Tootsie) exists in the territory between hilarious and eye-rolling. Its relentless barrage of puns beat this theatergoer to submission – however, unfortunately at the expense of substantial character and plot development. The mostly pleasant if somewhat generic country western score by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally squarely accomplish the job at hand – nothing more, nothing less – which is to bring life and a bit of nuance to the paper-thin story. Director Jack O’Brien (Hairspray) realizes the musical’s Broadway aspirations by giving it a charming and relatively eye-filling staging (the expansive barn set is by prolific scenic designer Scott Pask), completely with fun production numbers (the winking choreography is by Sarah O’Gleby).

In terms of the performances, Ashley D. Kelley and Grey Henson – who deliver most of the puns in this pun-heavy show – are disarming and utterly winning as the musical’s narrators. As the county’s distiller, Alex Newell stops the show with their epic vocals (namely, the Act One anthem “Independently Owned”) and brings much needed heart and grounded humanity to a show that feels a touch manufactured (ahem, romantic leads Andrew Durand and Caroline Innerbichler). Also worth mentioning is Kevin Cahoon, who is a complete hoot as unwittingly unhinged townie.

RECOMMENDED

SHUCKED
Broadway, Musical
Nederlander Theatre
2 hours, 30 minutes (without an intermission)
Open run