Review of Shucked on Broadway

When I first saw that Shucked was a real thing that was going to Broadway in 2023, I thought we were living in some alternate timeline and that this was a joke. But this was indeed reality, and despite seeing the Get Shucked pins and the cans of corn that they were handing out certain shows, I thought that I would never see this show.

Then I impulsively bought a ticket on TDF for a Wednesday night show because why not? Life’s too short and the other shows I planned on seeing all tragically closed at the end of July. So off to Shucked I went.

I was disappointed straight off the bat, though, because TDF actually gave me a partial view seat in the mezzanine. The sections I could see were crystal clear and great, but C 30 is definitely partial view.

You cannot see the corn that dies, which is a key joke towards the beginning, nor certain scenes/actions that take place in the far right of the audience view of the stage. But I was here to laugh and have a good time, so I shook it off and said whatever.

Onwards with the review!

It’s up to Maizy to leave Cobb County and find a way to save the corn.

I won’t be providing an overarching synopsis of Shucked in this review because it’s pretty straightforward. Girl goes out and tries to save the corn, holds off on the wedding to the man she grew up knowing, meets a fake corn doctor in Tampa, and they try to save the corn while finding love along the way.

There isn’t too much to think about when it comes to the premise of Shucked, which makes it even more a show you want to see when you don’t want to think and can just sit there and laugh at how ridiculous everything seems.

Acting and singing in this show is spectacular, there’s no doubt about that. Clearly one of the show’s highlights is Tony Award winner Alex Newell, who plays Maizy’s cousin. She (I’m assuming the character identifies as female, but someone correct me if I’m wrong. I am aware that Newell uses they/them pronouns) ends up falling in love with the Corn Doctor at some point, and has a plethora of sexual jokes. She also makes the town’s corn whiskey. The way Newell just busts out those high notes in “Independently Owned” is just fantastic.

The female lead was just okay and is overshadowed by some of the other characters. The guy who plays Beau is fantastic and has some really good numbers throughout the show, and the Storytellers were also so good. Another key standout is Kevin Cahoon as Peanut. Peanut basically exists to make a bunch of one liners throughout the show. Some are funny, but others fell flat in my humble opinion. The audience was dying whenever he came on.

There isn’t really character growth in this show (again: mindless fun) and is more about realizing what matters the most in the end, so the actors don’t have to flex outside of their singing voice when it comes to acting tough scenes and whatnot. I’m also 95% sure the guy playing Beau broke character a couple of times and started laughing.

This was a pretty short show compared to everything else I was watching this trip, but I think it didn’t need to be anything more than what it is already is. There’s some power numbers that are solo songs for the leads scattered throughout, but we see very little of Peanut having his time to shine outside of the puns. My personal favorite of the lyrics is the opening song, “Corn,” and how the cast ends up singing about how they’re corn bred.

Overall Thoughts

Not a ton to talk about when it comes to this show because it’s pretty straightforward at the end of the day. Simple plot and some pretty banging songs in the end.

Go see it if you’re interested. After having a somewhat bad day, I thought it was the perfect pick-me-up to laugh and relax to. Also despite the partial view seat, it was on the right aisle and by the exit, so I could stretch my legs throughout the show easily because no one was in front of me, then I got a quick getaway because the exit to downstairs was right there.

My only other complain was how weirdly tight the toilet stalls in the bathroom were at the Nederlander.

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