Shucked
Shucked had a lot to live up to when I went to see it; it was my favourite show from the 2023 Tony Award season, with the Original Broadway Cast being my 5th top artist in that year’s Spotify wrapped. I listened to the show constantly and even performed “Woman of the World” in a cabaret show before moving to London, so it was safe to say I had high hopes… Which were undoubtedly met. I adored this production, and ended up seeing it 3 times in its limited run! I was especially fond of the choice of theatre, with my first time seeing a show in Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre being an absolute perfect match.
Shucked follows the story of an isolated town that’s livelihood is dependent on their corn crop, which is dying! Our main protagonist Maizy ventures out into the world, against her fiancé’s wishes, and returns with a man who claims to be able to help. Things don’t quite go as expected for any of the characters but it all ends happily, with the corn saved and a new romance blossoming along with the revitalised corn crop.
What I liked
The whole cast were incredible, but here are my highlights. Georgina Onuorah as Lulu was a force to be reckoned with. Her presence demanded attention, she received multiple applauses mid-way through scenes for her delivery of well-crafted jokes, and any hesitance I had of her performance of “Independently Owned” was squashed quickly.
Sophie McShera and Ben Joyce as Maizy and Beau were a fantastic pair, their scenes had great chemistry, and Joyce‘s rendition of Somebody Will did not disappoint.
I think the standout comedic performance was from Keith Ramsay as Peanut, a character I was not prepared to love as much as a did as he doesn’t feature heavily on the cast album, but Ramsay’s delivery of joke after joke was incredible, and truly made the show as corny as you wanted it to be.
It’s very difficult to pick a favourite song, so I’ll simplify it to most entertaining, of which Best Man Wins takes the cake. The use of the barrels on stage as a part of this song’s choreography was fantastic and had me on the edge of my seat. Slightly earlier in the show Joyce had accidentally slipped on stage, so when he surfed on a plank across 2 barrels only to jump off as well, I was astounded.
It was also a joy to see how all the songs linked together in the story - a girl can only get so far with the Wikipedia synopsis - and I think that on top of being a hilarious show it follows a great pace to land on a heartwarming ending, and I found the storyteller roles to be a fantastic touch.
What wasn’t my favourite
I’m going to really scrape the barrels for dislikes here, but one downside to the open air theatre is just a few more hiccups than I usually see when seeing professional theatre in London, like a handful of microphones not being on for the beginning of a line and some muddiness in the orchestra speakers. However I will say the stage crew were hardworking nonetheless, with one member coming on stage to ensure a giant plank didn’t fall into the audience after keeping a little too much momentum from the aforementioned incredible choreography.
There were also some moments that were different than the cast album that made me a bit sad. I know it’s common for musicals to change even after they’ve recorded an album but I was most disheartened by the cut at the ending of “We Love Jesus”, which skipped the end list of icons.
“We love Jesus, Buddha, Allah, Oprah, Dolly Parton, Deepak Chopra! We love Jesus… But we drink a little - Yeah!”
Overall
This production was everything I wanted and more. I was truly enamoured with every moment, and in its limited run I managed to see it three times, though I wrote most of this after the first watch. I think it is a perfect example of a musical that doesn’t take itself too seriously, while still having a heartwarming message. For anyone unfamiliar with Shucked I will forever sing my praises, but otherwise I’ll just wait until it’s on again so that I enjoy a fantastically corny show.
