SHUCKED On Broadway - Reviews Thread — Page 9

I wanted to love this — it is very clever, and I always appreciate completely ORIGINAL musicals that make it to Broadway — but I thought it was just okay. Did they have their freeze day yet?

I won the lottery for tonight, and my seat was in the mezzanine, row C, seat 112... excellent view but I couldn't see Jason Howland, who conducted tonight and does a fine job with the orchestrations too. 

The full cast was in. Caroline Innerbichler makes a strong Broadway debut and I so want to see her play Alice in Bright Star several years down the line. Alex Newell holds their own and got a partial ovation after "Independently Owned." Grey Henson and Ashley D. Kelley do some nice work moving the story along, while peering over the action throughout the show like hawks. The two of them almost never leave the stage, so props to them. The ensemble sounds wonderful. 

All the dad jokes got old after a while, though I thought a small bunch were genuinely funny. Robert Horn's book does not live up to the comedic masterclass known as Tootsie, but it has somewhat of a heart. 

I was expecting a stronger score from Brandy and Shane, especially given their pedigree, but there are some sporadic highlights. Innerbichler's "Woman of the World" already has an excellent demo recording, but just wait until you hear the final version with Howland's added vocal arrangements for the ensemble. Andrew Durand sounds solid singing a pair of ballads about lost love. The obligatory "it has the juice" reference in the opening number felt forced in because of the popular meme. I look forward to a cast recording, but I won't say this calls for repeated listening. 

I feel like this may not last very long on Broadway, but regional houses will eat this up (ha) for years to come. Let's see what the critics have to say on Tuesday, but IMO, David Stone can breathe a sigh of relief at the moment. 

 

 

 

Updated On: 3/30/23 at 11:32 PM

A few other thoughts from last night:

Everyone around me seemed to be having much more fun than I was. Very receptive audience, the laughs came fast and furious. 

Henson is playing a more fleshed-out version of Damian Hubbard in this show… not a bad thing though. Him and Kelley got entrance applause in BOTH acts. 

Set design is basically Hamilton on an angle. 

I absolutely heard the “Turn My Life Around” refrain at the top of each act. 

Updated On: 3/31/23 at 02:18 PM

I don’t know how or why but it worked. 

 

I went in really not knowing what to expect but I enjoyed it. It’s not exactly high art but it’s got heart and corn. I thought the whole ensemble did a really amazing job and I hope a few of them make it into Tony noms. The never ending stream of jokes didn’t always land for me but some were darn good. I had a grand ole time

im perplexed by any lukewarm responses to this show.

its a totally original, brand new, musical that is both very funny and has a very pleasant score with standout performances. how is this not something we want to welcome to bway with open arms? how is this not The Whole Point?

not all of the humor worked for me. the show spits out a joke a minute, and only half made me laugh- but thats alot! and overall the audience was howling in stitches. AGAIN- isnt that what we are looking for with new musicals? 

the show doesnt bother with any message to ram down our throat, and its silly plot isnt taken seriously at all. so the mostly good but not great songs move things along just fine, and then every few minutes, Grey Henson has this killer one-liner that makes you burst out laughing. its alot of fun.

It felt like different writers wrote for each character (not a bad thing!), and the Storytellers were written for me; Cahoon was a whole different type of silliness that didnt do it for me, but had the audience around me rolling on the floor. The show is strongest at the start humor-wise, and then wraps it all up in a touching, semi-surprisey bow at the end, and drags in the middle a bit. 

I thought both Durand and Innerbichler sounded great and carried the love story just fine. (Her mic needs to be turned up when shes singing with the full company, but she nailed her numbers). Newell got a full standing ovation, stop the show reaction to the big Act 1 number, but I agree with someone above that Lulu only really becomes a character in Act 2 and Newell nails it--the first time I've seen them do more than sing/scream their faces off and actually land the humor/harmonies/feelings. I hope they (and Durand, for that matter) are nominated come awards season.

Anyway, I had fun, the audience sure did, and I hope the critics appreciate it for what it is, and that it picks up enough steam/awards so that it can tour. 

I won the lottery for this too. The confirmation said the tickets would be emailed one hour before, and if not, to pickup at will call. No email, so had to go to the box office. Ticket was center mezz row D. The confirmation also said to show up 40 minutes before, which I did not, but they weren't kidding. The line to get in stretched all the way to Eighth Avenue. If this was any indication, definitely show up early. I can't remember the last time I've been to the Nederlander--Million Dollar Quartet?--so I don't remember if it's always like this.

The show was fine. Nothing to rave about, but nothing I really disliked either. It's cute, and the cast is talented and appealing. For all the talk in this thread about it being a joke-a-minute, I actually could have used some more--felt like there were some dead spots. I'd also read how there were too many ballads, but for the most part I thought there was a good variety in the songs--at least in the first act, which I thought was much stronger. The second act, when it started to focus solely on the love quadrangle began to feel interminable. Needed more jokes, or shorter songs, or...something to pick up the pace. But the score was actually better than I was expecting going in. A pleasant enough show, even if it felt like it could (should) have been shorter in the end.

 

Maybe today was just slow then. Yeah, got to the theater at 2:40, proceeded to walk all the way down 41st almost to Eighth to find the end of the line. Stepped inside around 2:54.

Anyone know why there was no song list in the Playbill?

And why there were no individual bows at the end?

MemorableUserName said: "I won the lottery for this too. The confirmation said the tickets would be emailed one hour before, and if not, to pickup at will call. No email, so had to go to the box office. Ticket was center mezz row D. The confirmation also said to show up 40 minutes before, which I did not, but they weren't kidding. The line to get in stretched all the way to Eighth Avenue. If this was any indication, definitely show up early. I can't remember the last time I've been to the Nederlander--Million Dollar Quartet?--so I don't remember if it's always like this.

The show was fine. Nothing to rave about, but nothing I really disliked either. It's cute, and the cast is talented and appealing. For all the talk in this thread about it being a joke-a-minute, I actually could have used some more--felt like there were some dead spots. I'd also read how there were too many ballads, but for the most part I thought there was a good variety in the songs--at least in the first act, which I thought was much stronger. The second act, when it started to focus solely on the love quadrangle began to feel interminable. Needed more jokes, or shorter songs, or...something to pick up the pace. But the score was actually better than I was expecting going in. A pleasant enough show, even if it felt like it could (should) have been shorter in the end."

I had the same issue as you this afternoon. Never received the lotto ticket via email, arrived 40 minutes early, waited at the box office, and was at the end of the line stretching all the way to Port Authority. Fortunately, it moved fast and I was in my seat by 2:55; Third row, center mezzanine.

The show was just OK for me. I guess I was hoping for more of a Mel Brooks type of comedy here. I didn't see TOOTSIE, and am not familiar with Horns' work. Then again, they promise "corn" and they do deliver corny. It just wasn't for me.

Before leaving for the theatre, I caught the "CBS Sunday Morning" segment and had a glimmer of hope. Sadly, I wasn't as enamored with the score as the two songwriters were. Too many ballads for starters. There's also significant pacing issues that drag the show down. It may have worked better as a 90-minute piece, with no intermission.

The standouts for me were Cahoon, Durand (for their comic abilities/timing) and Newell for some terrific, stand alone moments.

If SHUCKED has any kind of afterlife, it sure looks like an easy one to cast.

 

 

Caroline Innerbichler has such a winning stage presence in this (which I was reminded of in the CBS Sunday Morning piece)

I'm really curious to see how reviews go for this one. This feels like a show that very much needs good reviews & some Tonys attention to get it going from a box office perspective.

Absolutely loved this, hoping it does well, FYI not sure this has been mentioned here but they give out buttons and stickers when you are lining up to go in, super cute! 

TaffyDavenport said: "Corn Kid is there:

https://twitter.com/Shucked_Musical/status/1643350962134818816"

How adorable!