SHUCKED On Broadway - Reviews Thread — Page 13

Saw the show this afternoon and loved it. My only qualm is how uncomfortable those Nederlander seats are in the front mezz!

I was there yesterday afternoon, too, and the whole company was in and on fire.

Truthfully, I went in reluctant to be won over -- a terrible mindset that no show deserves to confront -- but I'll be damned if I wasn't pulled in anyway. Somewhere in the first act, even before Newell stops the show in a kind of love child of Billy Porter and Jennifer Holliday way, the one-joke conceit, the ludicrous sendup of logical romantic plotting (although Twelfth Night used this, too), all begin to work together. There's real craft, and discipline to the farce. No one takes any of it seriously, and yet -- paradoxically and wisely -- it's played straight, so that the power ballads, which have surprising emotional heft, feel organic, with earned places in the storytelling. A keeper of a score, with a second act quartet that's as good as anything this season, and of course that killer showstopper, which starts confident and ends up a lesson in giving people what they didn't even know they wanted.

Saw the 7:30 pm.show tonight (definitely a change of pace after seeing the "Sweeney" matinee) and found it enjoyable. The cast definitely sells the show, which to me was the key to its success; with less committed players it could easily start to sink in its own silliness.

Musically I was perplexed a bit at how ballad heavy the evening was for a musical comedy. But the script, such as it is, was light and made me outright guffaw multiple times. The clever resolution of the "Storytellers" own story at the show's conclusion, I felt, was especially effective.



I can definitely see this touring with success and being popular with regional theaters/colleges (it may be occasionally a bit too blue for most high schools). I'm guessing this will need some Tony magic to perhaps find a protracted stay in NY though.

Well, the audience today sure loved this show. There was a young woman near me who kept saying, "I love this!" at various points in the show. On the way out, she was commenting that all she knew about the show was that it was about corn and "it sure delivered" on that. For me, though, I was amused but found myself not laughing out loud anywhere near as much as I did when I saw its prior incarnation in Dallas. If anyone is curious about how the two shows relate/diverge:

I think making it into a fable was an excellent device to overcome the problems with a relatively simplistic plotline. I thought Andrew Durand was the standout performance, but then I tend to like the emphathic performers more than the diva stylings. The understudy for Gordy was on and I didn't realize it until intermission because of how they rushed us into seats after making everyone line up in the rain.

It's pretty clear people are taking a chance on the show for the price of a cheap ticket so curious to see what happens if it wins any Tonys.

jkcohen626 said: "I also saw this Yesterday and I loved it! I thought it was hilarious, the performances were great, and the score was awesome!

However, I would be disappointed to see this beat Kimberly Akimbo for any Tonys besides maybe Featured Actor for Newell. Lyrically, musically, and commedically, I found Akimbo to be smarter and deeper."

Shucked won't be winning over KA and as you say the only possible win could be for Newell. KA is far superior on all counts smarter, deeper and Better!

Alex Newell recorded the original version of "Kill the Lights," which is featured in Fat Ham, but the one used in the show is a cover by Mykal Kilgore, and there are definitely people out there who mistakenly think it's Newell. Someone must have caught that Twitter poster's mistake, and corrected them.

Updated On: 5/21/23 at 01:38 PM

Going Sunday. So excited. Wearing…. Plaid!

For anyone who wants to show some understudy love, Miki Abraham-Grayson will be on for LuLu tomorrow (May 23) while Alex travels home from The Voice. Miki was on Sunday as well.

Interesting Q&A with Shucked producer Mike Bosner, who outlined the smart publicity campaign for the show, including the recent appearance by Alex Newell on The Voice.

"As soon as the whispers of this strike started happening, I was talking to my business partner on this, my producing partner, Jason Owen, and we had this sit down. We were at breakfast and I said, we got to start thinking about what we can do, because we were booked on Colbert and a bunch of other TV programs that have unfortunately not been able to proceed because of the strike, so we got to thinking about where we could be in other big national exposures, and Jason was the one who brought up the idea of The Voice, and I credit him so much and thank him so much that he fully got this done. It was his idea and he pushed it through, and we’re the first Broadway show to ever have someone appear on The Voice, and it’s going to be a huge thing for us. I’m just over the moon to share Alex’s singular performance and a little bit of our show with the world and to an audience that may not be paying attention to us right now."

https://deadline.com/2023/05/shucked-mike-bosner-tony-awards-deadline-interview-1235375131/

I saw this yesterday at a matinee on a rare two-show Sunday for Memorial Day.

I cannot get enough of Alex Newell in this. Still, three months later, people are giving this number standing ovations. And it is rightfully deserved. I have never seen a performance quite like what they give in this show. From the moment they entered the opening number, they commanded the space with such force.

Peanut was the other standout for me. There is just something about Kevin Cahoon that is hard to dislike. He is truly a delight one joke at a time.

You can never convince me that Grey Henson will ever play a role on Broadway that does not channel Damien in some way: and we love him for it.

I have been itching for a good musical comedy and this was it. Although I don’t see it winning much Tony wise outside of Newell and the Book, I think it will stick around. I would love to see it tour as well.

Yeah, their marketing for this is the best I've ever seen in years.

I tried searching the site to no avail. Can anyone tell me what their nut is? I know what the grosses are, just curious to compare.



TIA