I had considered a few ways to start this review, but after consulting the details for the first national tour of Shucked, an eight-time Tony-nominated musical comedy (for which Alex Newell won Best Featured Actor in a Musical), and realizing it is only playing in Chicago through January 19, I landed on this:
Drop everything and go see Shucked while you can.
It's hilarious, heartfelt and (forgive me) ear-resistable, a truly cream-of-the-crop show and proof that American musical theater is still capable of winsome, surprising and original works worth their ever-inflating ticket prices.
With a book by Robert Horn (Tootsie, Hercules) and music and lyrics by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally (both well-established country music artists, the former a 16-time Grammy nominee and the latter a three-time Grammy winner), Shucked absolutely shouldn't work. It's silly and lightweight and in less talented hands (the ensemble touring cast is essentially superb), the corny comedy throughout could quickly become stale.
But something magical happens in the midst of the fast-paced first act and truly exceptional second, especially if one takes small-town heroine Maizy's (Danielle Wade) advice from her first solo number, "Walls," and is willing to open a window to something unexpected rather than build a wall keeping it out. As the puns fly fast and furious and the impressive musical numbers keep coming, you'll find yourself charmed by its uncomplicated (and honestly, kind of predictable) but perfectly delightful plot and the camaraderie and kinship forged on stage as we watch.
Shucked is structured with two narrators (Storyteller 1, Maya Lagerstam, and Storyteller 2, Tyler Joseph Ellis) who welcome us to this "farm-to-fable" set in fictional Cob County, an insulated community that runs on America's favorite crop, corn. Built up inside walls of the multi-use crop, tragedy strikes when their beloved corn starts to die and the town is at a loss as to what to do about it. Only Maizy, who is engaged to Beau (Jake Odmark), a strapping, quite traditional farmer in town whose pride is on the line, is willing to journey outside the county's borders in a search for answers. Soon, she's on her way to...Tampa, of all places, where she meets Gordy (Quinn VanAntwerp), a con-man with debts to pay who's more than willing to take advantage of Maizy's small-town naïveté. He returns to Cob County with Maizy, and everyone in town, including her cousin Lulu (Miki Abraham), immediately senses something is not on the up-and-up with this interloper.
The show accomplishes what so many others of its ilk often find next to impossible to do: delivering a well-written, solid plot and believable stakes alongside strong musical numbers that develop character and advance the plot. We get introduced to Cob County and its residents, understand the crux of the challenge at hand and are on our way to Tampa and back all within the show's first five numbers, and the economy of storytelling is both appreciated and expertly done.
Though most of the touring cast are new to the show since its Broadway bow (Abraham was in the ensemble and understudied for the role of Lulu, which they play here), you wouldn't know it based on the talent on stage. Odmark as Beau is really the ensemble's only weak link, and that's a mild criticism and likely only even noticeable because the likes of Abraham and the rest are so phenomenal. Wade delivers a lead blonde bombshell that's both down-home-y and whip smart, and if there's any justice in this world, Abraham would be the next Ariana DeBose, plucked from a bit part on Broadway to an Academy Award-winning role where their talent can truly shine. Come for the comedy, stay for this powerhouse of a performance.
There is, as I have not been shy about thus far, much to recommend Shucked. But above all, it's the show's charming and truly gut-busting comedy that is its most winning feature. Art that knows what it is and embraces that truth is usually the most successful kind of art, and Shucked proves this in spades as it leans into the...corniness...of its comedy. There isn't a pun that goes unsaid, a rock under which a potential joke can hide. From the opening number recounting the history of corn and its (lack of) digestion in our systems to a running gag for Beau's brother, Peanut (Mike Nappi) that had me in literal tears of laughter each time it resurfaced, the comedy manages to be smart and wholesome, cutting and endearing. (A few choice examples: "Remember the last words grandpa said to us before he died...'Are you boys still holding the ladder?'"; "It's like the pastor said at Mr. Nice Guy's funeral: 'No more Mr. Nice Guy!'"; "Your grandmother died doing what she loves most, making toast in the bathtub!")
Depending on when you're reading this, you have roughly a week to 10 days to clear your calendar and find a time to get downtown and see one of the best original musical comedies in recent memory. Chicago is so damn lucky to be a first stop on national touring productions of some of the best Broadway has to offer, and it would truly be a crime not to harvest the golden opportunity to catch Shucked while it's in town.
Shucked runs through January 19 at CIBC Theater (18 W. Monroe St). Tickets range from $35-$130; a digital lottery is also available for limited $25 tickets to each performance. Learn more at Broadway In Chicago.
For more information on this and other productions, see theatreinchicago.com.
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