Shucked Review - Katelyn Keyes

    There’s this great new musical at the Orpheum right now! No really, it has everything: humor and heart,

love and lies, and songs guaranteed to get stuck in your head. The first song? It’s called “Corn”. It’s…

yeah.. about corn. But before you pass your judgment on Shucked, the musical written by Robert Horn and

scored by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, I implore you to look a little deeper. As the residents of

Cobb County know, it’s what’s inside that counts. 

Humor is a tricky thing, and humor for such a wide audience is even harder. However, Shucked has jokes for everyone. There is a healthy dose of innuendo in their jokes, something I didn’t expect from their friendly corn-cob posters, but it stops short of being divisive. Other shows (think: Book Of Mormon) rely on shock value from jabs at things like religion and politics, and Shucked does grant a few eyebrow raises and a couple ‘oooh’s, but never enough to stop the smiling. 

Humor is definitely Shucked’s wow factor, but it doesn’t get lost in the jokes. This is due partly to the excellent writing, and partly to the stellar performances of the leads, Danielle Wade as Maizy in particular. She played the protagonist with a spunky Southern touch that can be light and lilting, like in her song “Walls”, or strong and confident, like in “Woman of the World”. In fact, what really stood out to me was that none of the characters in this show are caricatures. Well, maybe Peanut (Mike Nappi), but man was he funny. But the majority of the main characters had depth beyond their stereotypes. Take Beau (Nick Bailey), for instance. He was introduced as Maizy’s boyfriend who didn’t believe in her. Boo, we think, and then he brings the house down with “Somebody Will”. With the voice of a country star and plenty of acting talent, the audience was instantly won over by Bailey’s performance. Another strong singer in the cast was Miki Abraham as Lulu, the strong and sassy whiskey maker of the small town. Her song, “Independently Owned” really showed off her low range and powerful belt.

The musical numbers in Shucked really bring the show to the next level, whether it’s the singing or the dancing. The ensemble of the show helped with this immensely as well. The harmonies were bright and beautiful in “Corn”, and just as much so when they came from the wings as backup to a solo song. The dancing, choreographed by Sarah O’Gleby, was just as charming, and often incorporated set pieces like planks and barrels and, of course, corn. So, if you do decide to come to Shucked, be prepared to laugh, to cry (yes, my sentimental soul did shed a tear at Wade and Abraham’s rendition of “Friends”), and just have a shucking good time.