A wholesome and earnest satire of small-town life, "Shucked" harvests crops of clever puns for steady chuckles.
The musical, which started in Salt Lake City in 2022 and played on Broaday in 2023 to Tony-nominated acclaim before launching a national tour last year, offers loads of fun doled out by a capable cast. Crackling choreography, informed by country bar routines and old-fashioned square dance, provide a launching pad for a steady flow of cornfed laughs.
Danielle Wade stars as Maizy, an iconoclastic small-town girl who is engaged to the earnest, if small-minded Beau (Jake Odmark). Desperate to expand her horizons while finding the cure to her town's epiddemic of withering corn crops, Maizy ventures out to Tampa, where she enlists the help of a smooth-talking swindler, Gordy (Quinn Vanvantwerp), to the chagrin of her overbearing cousin, Lulu (Miki Abraham).
The show springs to life in its solo song-and-dance perofrmances. Wade carries many numbers with earnest charisma, injecting proto-feminist oomph into her lyrics, while Odmark owns his moments in the spotlight with a quiet confidence that wrestles with everpresent self-doubt. Mike Nappi swipes scenes as the wise-cracking Peanut, Beau's simpleton brother who deals out deadpan one-liners worthy of a Jeff Foxworthy album, proving he could easily carry an entire stand-up comedy show.
While the plot stretches distressingly thin the longer it unfurls, the show is so funny and wildly entertaining that it hardly matters. Never losing its sense of momentum, "Shucked" casts a captivating spell over the audience. Small yet resounding gestures from the performers, such as hammy tips of the cap to show appreciation for wild bursts of applause, go a long way toward connecting with the apprecaitive audience. The lead actors and ensemble all revel in the everpresent give-and-take.
An understated joy, "Shucked" is a disarming and joyous comedy that tugs you along on its wild hayride, hardly stopping for rest. It revels in its corniness, and thrives in its goofy yet resounding kernels of human truth.
