How many puns can one possibly come up with? Shucked, the Broadway musical playing now at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Theater (CIBC), answers the question: too many! But if you like country music, dad jokes, and puns, then Shucked might shuck you into laughter with a cob-smashing performance. While Shucked is not a groundbreaking, thought-provoking show pushing the boundaries of musical theater, it thoroughly fulfills its purpose—to be silly, funny, and (obviously) corny.
The show takes place in Cob County, a town surrounded by a literal wall of corn that doubles as the town’s livelihood. But right when local farm girl Maizy (Danielle Wade) is about to marry Beau (Jake Odmark), all the corn in Cob County starts to rot. While everyone in town seems to be afraid of what is happening, Maizy wants to go to a big city to find a solution for their corn production. She heads to that cosmopolitan, vibrant, decadent tentpole of technology… Tampa. There, she meets podiatrist Gordy (Quinn Vanantwerp), a self-proclaimed “corn doctor” (of the foot variety) who promises to help Maizy. As they travel back to Cob County, Maizy develops feelings for the doctor, but she does not realize that Gordy, an ethically dubious womanizer, has interests in the small town well beyond corn.
I walked into the theater with low expectations: nothing in the show’s marketing strategy could lead one to think it would be a cutting-edge performance. Director Jack O’Brien and scenic designer Scott Pask opted for a simple structure for its stage, but a few boxes, barrels, pieces of wood, and (of course) corn were surprisingly effective at transporting the audience to Cob County. Shucked did not need much more staging-wise to be what it has promised: a hilarious show.
Shucked may be simple, but as Beau explains, “there’s a cornfield of difference between simple and stupid.” The plot of the show is simple, but nobody in Cob County is stupid. Lulu (Miki Abraham), is the best example of this. She is Maizy’s wise-about-the-world cousin and is initially suspicious about Gordy’s intentions when she first meets him. Following this meeting, Abraham delivers the best vocal performance of the night with the song “Independently Owned,” a feminist anthem mixed with a traditional country-style banjo and pop rhythm. Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, who composed the music and penned the lyrics, are able to blend country, pop, and Broadway styles to create a soundtrack that enriches the story with a humorous flair. Other soundtrack highlights are “Somebody Will,” “Friends,” and “Best Man Wins,” which has the best dance performance of the show, with electrifying choreography that uses all the scenery available on stage.
Lulu, however, also points out something interesting about Shucked: the most remarkable characters are the supporting ones. They are the ones who move the plot and make the show interesting. Even though the story is centered around Maizy, Beau, and Gordy, the characters the audience becomes most invested in are Lulu and Peanut, Beau’s brother (Mike Nappi). Peanut is the embodiment of everything that Shucked wants to convey. He is extremely goofy and has countless corn puns and dad jokes, and every time he starts a line with “I think,” the audience is prepared to be entertained. Peanut is proof that, if one buys into his sense of humor and the purpose of the show, they will laugh for two hours straight.
The plot concludes in rather predictably, save for one small, but plausible twist. The show pleasantly conveys both the strong connection that one can create within a small community, as well as the new possibilities of going to a new place and having new adventures. Along with this, Shucked surprises as an exploration of a dynamic upon which musical theater is built: the fear of being too corny. A show always wants to be laughed “with,” not laughed “at.” This show is proud of being corny — its embrace of corniness is, in fact, what makes it funny and entertaining for the audience. Shucked proves that even the smallest kernels of humor can pop into a good show!
