SHUCKED On Broadway - Reviews Thread- Page 5

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 3/10/23 at 2:44pm

Very confused by this discussion. Audiences of all ages and all persuasions made Book of Mormon a monster hit because it made them laugh. Yes, it had South Park to get them in the door, but I dont quite follow why raunchy/blue humor would be a problem? See, e.g., Book of Mormon. And this show isnt hiding its edginess- its CALLED Shucked and has ads about Getting Shucked etc.

These reviews-even those that are lukewarm or unimpressed by "character development"--are making me v excited to see this. Make me laugh, and I can't ask for much else.

[Anthony Sunday]

Posted: 3/10/23 at 3:21pm

The discourse around older audiences not appreciating blue comedy is strange to me. I understand it would be a dealbreaker for some, but I'd venture to say the Boomer+ demographic would be more willing to embrace a more politically incorrect show than the modern day Puritans of the Gen. Z crowd would. 

[bradwalt]

Posted: 3/10/23 at 3:41pm

Anthony Sunday said: "The discourse around older audiences not appreciating blue comedy is strange to me. I understand it would be a dealbreaker for some, but I'd venture to say the Boomer+ demographic would be more willing to embrace a more politically incorrect show than the modern day Puritans of the Gen. Z crowd would."

Agreed! I'm a 67-year-old Boomer and my favorite movie in college was Blazing Saddles.  My kids can't sit through it.

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/10/23 at 3:41pm

I remember being at an early Book of Mormon preview and crying laughing the whole time. My point was more so when did we last have an original musical comedy that was a big hit? My mind goes back to Spelling Bee (I know it’s based on a play but it’s obscure). 

[Leaf Coneybear]

Posted: 3/10/23 at 4:30pm

Saw the show last night.

I loved the vibe in general: Very silly/vaudevillian old school musical. I've heard people comparing it to a cross between Music Man and Oklahoma, and I would say that's pretty accurate. Saw some people online complaining that the show was cliche and the plot doesn't make sense (no reason for the conman and cousin to fall in love, no reason to like Maize, etc). True, but personally I saw that as sort of a tongue-in-cheek nod to classic musicals (which I saw confirmed by what I can only assume was a reference to the Music Man and Oklahoma in the show). The plot of Music Man doesn't make a ton of sense, and Shucked is much more about the jokes and music than the plot. 

There's no actual conflict after about the first half of Act 1, but again, I wasn't bothered by it. It's a very cartoony representation of a musical, and I'd rather hear some jokes than see "real" character development from characters that aren't mean to be taken that seriously. 

I LOVED the storytellers, particularly Grey. His comedic timing was impeccable. With they would have been a bit more present throughout the second act, seems they just kind of fall off.

Now for the things I wasn't a huge fan of. The way they handled Peanut's jokes were incredibly lazy, in my opinion. Making a character's whole "thing" telling odd jokes in a show that's already full of odd jokes seems weird. If there's not a place for them in the show, just don't put them in (and many of the jokes did seem to come out of nowhere). 

Other than a few songs (that Yeehaw one with the men, the ending of Act 1, to name a few) I wasn't a huge fan of the score. Nothing terrible, but nothing I'd write home about. I definitely enjoyed the book more. I also felt that Beau's second big song wasn't needed. Kind of felt like it slowed the plot down and already conveyed what we know, that he's upset about Maize. 

As others have mentioned, some jokes didn't land. But the thing was, probably about 99% of the jokes landed with at least 20% of the audience, which makes a pretty good yield when there's a joke a minute. As for the gay jokes that are mentioned, I am not gay myself but I can report the two gentlemen sitting next to me who I can only assume were partners laughed at almost everything but stayed silent during those parts.

Finally, I hope to god they cut the reference to the corn song from TikTok. It's short, to be fair, but I can't imagine that will age well.

Overall I definitely enjoyed, and I can't say how happy I am to see another musical on Broadway that's not based on any previous material or a jukebox. 

Updated On: 3/10/23 at 04:30 PM

[Up In One]

Posted: 3/10/23 at 5:03pm

Still can’t get a read on what to expect on this one. Is it in the Something Rotten, Spamalot vein? Schmigadoon?  For me Titanique is a show whose goal is to entertain and make us laugh and it does that very well. Is this a Broadway Titanique? 

[thoroughlymodernbilly]

Posted: 3/10/23 at 5:03pm

I was at the first preview Wednesday and had a really fun night! The book is already in excellent shape, and I can only imagine it’ll just get tighter in the days and weeks to come. As others have noted, it’s very pun- and innuendo-heavy, and it truly is a laugh a minute. Kevin Cahoon and Grey Henson particularly shine with their delivery, and I’d love to see Tony nominations for both.

That said, I was a bit lukewarm on the score. The opening number is hilarious, and Alex Newell and Andrew Durand both have showstoppers in Act 1. Otherwise, there seemed to be a huge disconnect between the cleverness of the book and the extreme earnestness of the songs – I understand it works for some people, but it just felt like two entirely different shows to me. Caroline Innerbichler is very funny and charismatic, so I wish they had written her more than just a bunch of country-pop ballads. I was also disappointed that Kevin Cahoon didn’t have a much better song for his big Act 2 showcase.

Overall, I’m rooting for this show to succeed and would have no hesitation about seeing it again. I still think “Kimberly” is far and away the best new musical of the season, but this would certainly be in second place.

And for those interested, I won the lotto and got Orchestra Row E, partial view on the left-hand side. I missed some minor action on the staircase upstage, but no complaints for the price!

Updated On: 3/10/23 at 05:03 PM

[Up In One]

Posted: 3/10/23 at 5:32pm

When you mentioned there seemed to be a huge disconnect between the cleverness of the book and the extreme earnestness of the songs it brought back thoughts Sondheim had about Forum.  

This is from an article  BY CARY GINELL ….

Since the book is so rife with jokes, puns, and comical uses of ancient Roman idioms, Sondheim reasoned that audiences needed spaces to catch their collective breaths from all the unrestrained hilarity. Thus, he constructed his songs as respites from the comedy, a throwback to the one-idea songs that occurred in musicals before the Rodgers & Hammerstein revolution. “I don’t think that farces can be transformed into musicals without damage,” Sondheim explained. “The tighter the plotting the better the farce, but the better the farce, the more the songs interrupt the flow and pace. Farces are express trains; musicals are locals. Savoring moments can be effective while a farce is gathering steam, but deadly once the train gets going.” This is why you will hear most of the songs in Act I of Forum, while, as the action hurtles toward the end of Act II, you will find fewer and fewer songs interrupting the comic mayhem. 

[Leaf Coneybear]

Posted: 3/10/23 at 6:32pm

That said, I was a bit lukewarm on the score. The opening number is hilarious, and Alex Newell and Andrew Durand both have showstoppers in Act 1. Otherwise, there seemed to be a huge disconnect between the cleverness of the book and the extreme earnestness of the songs – I understand it works for some people, but it just felt like two entirely different shows to me.

Totally agree. I feel like the Book of Mormon and Avenue Q are good examples of comedies where the songs are just as funny (if not funnier) than the book. You can listen to them and laugh without actually seeing the show. None of the songs in Shucked really shouted “hilarious!” at me, even the ones I liked. Seemed like a really funny book with an ok score. 

 

 

[Blindbutlerdeafmaid]

Posted: 3/10/23 at 7:13pm

In the earlier thread on the show I wrote about my experience seeing the show in Salt Lake City, where it tried out. 

The audience was extremely diverse and extremely well sold. I don't know what part of the run I saw it during, but it was exceptionally well rehearsed and settled by the time I saw it, despite the theater's AD or ED saying they were adjusting the staging for several actors out with Covid. I was seated in the middle of a group of college kids on my right, mid-sixty year old hetero-couple on my left, a group of maybe eight middle aged women in front of me, and a twenty-something musical lover who stood in line in front of me (in the rain) who was was seeing the show for the fourth time. No one around me in the box office line seemed to know much about the show other than their friends told them it was hysterical. 

Not all the jokes landed for me, but nothing offended me -- or seemingly anyone around me. Alex Newell got a standing ovation after their act 1 number and, surprisingly to me, all of those VERY DIFFERENT people seemed to REALLY enjoy it. I kept watching certain people around me for their reactions to jokes that I'd say weren't even inuendo and no one seemed to laugh more or less to the different levels of bawdy, of which the show truly does run the gamut. Everyone around me was in it, I'd say the hetero-husband almost more than anyone but the group of women in front of me stood in their seats at intermission trying to remember all the jokes that they enjoyed. 

I found myself doing something similar over the following few days as I tried to talk to people about the show. And -- probably similarly to why there are few published descriptions of the story/plot -- found myself not even trying to tell the story of the show, but rather reciting the jokes I remembered and sharing how much joy I left the show with. 

I was in SLC for work (so maybe I was grumpy?) and it just made me happy to be around so many happy people having such a good time. I went back the next night, waited in the box office line in the cold, winter rain, with no less than 30 people... and had just as much fun the second night.

All of that is the long way around of saying: Seeing the show, in the middle of the audience I was in, I don't think the blue humor will be as much of a problem as people think it could be and certainly don't remember any offensive gay jokes -- which I would tend to be more prickly to than anything else. I wonder if anyone can speak to them being new? Either way: I would suspect this show will find its audience with the social media audience they're aiming hard at, as well as the people who saw Spamalot in years two and three. 

[Kad]

Posted: 3/10/23 at 7:27pm

Up In One said: "Still can’t get a read on what to expect on this one. Is it in the Something Rotten, Spamalot vein?Schmigadoon? For me Titanique is a show whose goal is to entertain and make us laugh and it does that very well. Is this a Broadway Titanique?"

It is not a sendup or parody of musical comedies (thank god, those are very played out). It is a modern take on the classic-style musical comedy.

[Fordham2015]

Posted: 3/11/23 at 7:54pm

I was at today's matinee. TDF seats center orchestra row K. Jack O'Brien was in the back row. 

This was...fine? The book is hilarious, and as other posters noted most of the jokes land. The songs are only so-so, however.

Caroline I and Andrew Durand were OK leads, but neither of them has songs that really show off their talent. Andrew's two numbers in particular have big finishes clearly meant to elicit audience applause, but the response was tepid at best.

I loved the two storytellers, Alex Newell, and Kevin Cahoon (who leads the best number in the show, ironically the only one that still has a Hee-Haw reference).

PS the crowd is definitely skewing young, the group behind me kept using the phrase "It's giving" unironically (i.e. "This set, it's giving Hamilton and Come From Away".

Updated On: 3/11/23 at 07:54 PM

[halfhourcheckwithmerman]

Posted: 3/11/23 at 8:53pm

Up In One said: "When you mentioned there seemed to be a huge disconnect between the cleverness of the book and the extreme earnestness of the songs it brought back thoughts Sondheim had about Forum.

This is from an article BY CARY GINELL ….

Since thebook is so rife with jokes, puns, and comical uses of ancient Roman idioms, Sondheim reasoned that audiences needed spaces to catch their collective breaths from all the unrestrained hilarity. Thus, he constructed his songs as respites from the comedy, a throwback to the one-idea songs that occurred in musicals before the Rodgers & Hammerstein revolution. “I don’t think that farces can be transformed into musicals without damage,” Sondheim explained. “The tighter the plotting the better the farce, but the better the farce, the more the songs interrupt the flow and pace. Farces are express trains; musicals are locals. Savoring moments can be effective while a farce is gathering steam, but deadly once the train gets going.” This is why you will hear most of the songs in Act I ofForum, while, as the action hurtles toward the end of Act II, you will find fewer and fewer songs interrupting the comic mayhem."

Good point -- but also worth noting that, by the middle of his career, Sondheim was fully in agreement with James Goldman, who had told him on first hearing the score that "It's a phenomenal show, and a phenomenal score, but they just don't go together" (I'm paraphrasing). 

In my opinion, shows that let the songs "make room" for the hilarity of the book tend to fall flat more often than not. And then there are also cases like Tootsie, where the score is enough of a non-event (again, just my opinion) that the whole show sinks... 

But this is a lot of talk from someone who hasn't heard a bar of the score!! I'm very excited to see this one.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/11/23 at 9:09pm

Well it sort of begs the question why make it a musical? Like to me Tootsie didn’t bring anything new. There didn’t feel like a reason to make these characters sing. 

[Leaf Coneybear]

Posted: 3/11/23 at 9:27pm

RippedMan said: "Well it sort of begs the question why make it a musical? Like to me Tootsie didn’t bring anything new. There didn’t feel like a reason to make these characters sing."

I would think part of it is to appeal more to a younger demographic. “The corn musical” is funnier than “the corn play” which makes it more interesting, in my opinion. 

[Kad]

Posted: 3/11/23 at 9:59pm

RippedMan said: "Well it sort of begs the question why make it a musical? Like to me Tootsie didn’t bring anything new. There didn’t feel like a reason to make these characters sing."

You really need to start actually seeing these shows you’re offering your two cents about. 

[schubox]

Posted: 3/11/23 at 11:18pm

Saw this tonight. It was a lot of fun and really funny. Agree that there were only a few songs that I really enjoyed, but I didn’t think any of them were particularly bad. The crowd was really into it. And I saw a pretty varied mix of ages, didn’t notice it skewing young. The guy sitting next to us said he had seen it the night before and loved it so much he came back again. Was a fun way to cap off a week of shows 

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/12/23 at 5:45am

Up In One said: "When you mentioned there seemed to be a huge disconnect between the cleverness of the book and the extreme earnestness of the songs it brought back thoughts Sondheim had about Forum.

This is from an article BY CARY GINELL ….

Since thebook is so rife with jokes, puns, and comical uses of ancient Roman idioms, Sondheim reasoned that audiences needed spaces to catch their collective breaths from all the unrestrained hilarity."

Yes, the Forum songs are still very funny, not earnest.  Just a different type of humour than the farce heavy dialogue scenes.  I think personally they work together very well, despite what James Goldman apparently thought.

 

Updated On: 3/12/23 at 05:45 AM

[perfectpenguin]

Posted: 3/12/23 at 10:32am

I unexpectedly saw yesterday's matinee of Shucked. I got to the city in a mood and didn't feel like sitting through Parade. I threw my Parade ticket on Stubhub and grabbed a very last minute ticket for Shucked. My seat was Orch R , Row Q , Seat 28. Very last row of the orch, aisle seat, and directly next to the exit doors. I thought the view was perfect. The set isn't huge so I could see everything. I felt like they played center stage anyway and didn't favor the sides. And when they went to the second level of the set, I could see everything. There was a quick moment in act 2 with the corn I couldn't see but I got the gist of what was happening. Truthfully, it was blink and you miss it moment anyway so even full view you could miss it. The bathroom situation was a little chaotic as usual. I'm assuming the men's bathroom is same as women's, but with numerous stalls, only six (?) sinks that were tucked away in a corner where you couldn't move. We had a line to wash hands - only 4 people fit at one time. 

The ladies next to me were slightly annoying - mostly just up and down all show to use the bathroom, and occasionally kept talking to each other. In Act 2, they were getting wine drunk, started taking pictures of the show which of course led to one of the dropping their phones and a 10 min search for the lost phone. Then the girl directly next to me tried to enter my seat space by sitting weird and leaning - I put a stop to that and she straightened up. At least they didn't have crinkly food bags! 

Now for the show - I loved it. Truly loved it! I haven't laughed that much in a show in I don't know how long. So many one liners, corn jokes, and those on stage trying not to break character. The stand out here easily is Grey Henson. His comedic timing is on point. Alex Newell's Lulu doesn't do much until middle of Act 1 but when she gets going, she sings a powerhouse song that the audience loved. The men have a really neat number in Act 2 which should be their Tony number. I haven't stopped thinking about this show since I left. I have a ticket for May when I was initially supposed to see Shucked but now I'm looking forward to seeing any changes between now and then. Considering yesterday's matinee was only the 4th preview, show is pretty solid. 

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 3/12/23 at 10:34am

Here’s my review - it’s fine. It’s just fine. However, it is far from the second coming of Christ that some of these over the top blubbering reviews want you to believe. But for the $39.00 I paid for my ticket, it was fine. Even my cocktail was more expensive. Also, whoever designed the bathrooms in that theatre should be s**t in the head. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/12/23 at 10:50am

So now that some more reviews/word-of-mouth are coming seem a bit more mixed, I'd say Kimberly Akimbo is still the frontrunner to win the Tony for Best Musical?

[Kad]

Posted: 3/12/23 at 10:56am

I think KA would be hard to beat, but it’s still very early. 

[schubox]

Posted: 3/12/23 at 2:01pm

ACL2006 said: "So now that some more reviews/word-of-mouth are coming seem a bit more mixed, I'd say Kimberly Akimbo is still the frontrunner to win the Tony for Best Musical?"

I saw and enjoyed both, but think KA is clearly the better show 

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 3/12/23 at 2:18pm

Why don’t you peoples allow New York, New York to open before you hand over the Best Musical award to Kimberly Akimbo? 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/12/23 at 2:51pm

Unless NYNY proves to be a massive artistic achievement, I think the race is still Kimberly vs. Some Like It Hot. The remaining 3-4 slots will go to Shucked, NYNY, Juliet, Bad Cinderella, or KPOP. (I think we can safely count out Almost Famous and Beautiful Noise.)

The only real question is if ROOM will position itself as a musical instead of a play. As of now, the Musical category is thinner than the Play category. Having not seen it, I cannot comment on how the music works within the show, but that could knock out a weaker candidate (looking at you, Juliet or Cinderella).