Shucked (National Tour)

Something I’ve always found fascinating is how just minor details and nuances in physical acting, energy, and presence can make one actor stand out significantly more than even another actor doing the exact same character. I first realized this when I saw a production of Into The Woods two consecutive nights. The first night had this very good understudy in as one of the prince characters. But then the next night had the lead back, and despite an otherwise mostly identical performance, just some minor subtle differences in physical acting and stage presence made his performance a hundred times better than the very good understudy’s performance the night before. And this special presence is something you spot almost immediately. It’s either there or not.

From the moment Maya Lagerstam (Storyteller 1) and Joe Moeller (Storyteller 2) took the stage, I could immediately tell they both have this gift. They have the special presence. This is not a skill I consistently see in national tour casts, so it is a real treat watching them perform. As much as I loved the Original Broadway Cast, these two bring some fresh choices to these characters, and these two were my favorites at this performance.

More on the rest of the cast in a moment, as we first need to address the “stupidity” topic.

In June 2023, I planned a quick trip to New York to attend The Tony Awards, and I only had room to squeeze in a few shows. Thanks to & Juliet having a rare Friday matinee, I could easily get in three more shows Friday night through Saturday night. I focused on Tony-nominated shows and therefore also selected Kimberly Akimbo and Some Like It Hot. Shucked kept popping up, but it just sounded so stupid! But as I kept doing my research, a recurring theme emerged: “yes, this show is really stupid. And also you will love it!” It’s true. Even though tonight was my second time seeing the show, I still was in physical pain from laughing so much. And I have probably listened to the original cast recording a hundred times. Yes, it’s stupid. But oh it’s so funny. You can try resisting this show’s humor, but you will fail. You will eventually surrender to it. And the nice surprise is that this stupid show actually has a really good story with important messages and beautiful music. The stupid dad jokes are just bonus. So the spoiler is this stupid show is actually a smart show.

Because I ended up attending Shucked the night before The Tony Awards, I also got to meet creator Robert Horn, as well as several original cast members who I have seen perform since then in other shows, including Bat Boy last weekend at New York City Center and SMASH earlier this year on Broadway.

This touring cast has big shoes to fill, and they overall do a nice job.

I have a photo of the original set design in New York, so it was fun to compare it with this touring set. As expected, the New York set is significantly better, but this touring set design is just fine and does the job. With such short runs, it makes sense that these sets need to be very portable.

The choreography seems similar, but it did feel like the touring stage is much larger. This could be because I was in front row loge for this tour performance, being able to take everything in, where as in New York I was in the very front row and actually next to the conductor (he was to my left and not in front of me). While that was my favorite seat ever, it is of course harder to take everything in at a musical in front row orchestra than it is in front row loge. It could also be an optical illusion from this set, as this tour set appears very tall, despite not having the upper level that the Broadway set had.

The sound engineering is decent for a tour, and the sound levels were appropriate for the space. My pet peeve is when tours think they are in an arena and blast the sound so loud that everything is distorted, and this tour does an overall nice job.

The costumes seem similar to the original Broadway production. I didn’t really notice the lighting until late in Act 2 when all of a sudden it dramatically makes its presence known. This feels unusual, like Jamie Lloyd suddenly takes over the lighting, but it works. It also could have just been a momentary tech glitch that then caused my attention to focus in on the lighting more than I had been. This happens all the time with sound and of course can happen with lighting, too. Speaking of lighting, the conductor has a fun yellow perhaps corn-inspired prop that lights up right before each act starts. After I discovered this at the top of Act 1, it was fun to watch for this light at the end of intermission to known when Act 2 was about to start. Look for it! It’s stage right of the conductor, and now that I think about it, I think it might be in the shape of corn on the cob - ha!

After I saw Shucked on Broadway in 2023, I learned and successfully used Andrew Durand’s song “Somebody Will” as an audition song. I also sang it live on stage at a concert. Tonight was my first time experiencing someone else performing “Somebody Will” since I sang it, and this was the only performance other than Andrew Durand’s that I have experienced as a patron. Nick Bailey’s Beau absolutely crushes it and made me tear up. It was emotional for me to see someone else sing it, and Bailey’s performance is perfection. Then it was no surprise later in the show when he similarly silences the audience with his performance of “Ok,” another absolutely beautiful song. These two songs performed by Bailey are my favorite moments of the show. And he has big shoes to fill, especially since I just saw Andrew Durand perform last weekend in New York!

But Miki Abraham perhaps actually has the biggest shoes to fill with Lulu, since Alex Newell won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Abraham’s big moment with “Independently Owned” is another highlight of the night. I very much enjoyed Abraham’s performance.

Peanut is such a fun character, and Mike Nappi is the reason a lot of us were in physical pain from laughing so much. It’s also fun to hear the delayed laughter, as sometimes you do need a minute to get the joke!

Danielle Wade also does a very nice job with Maizy, and I felt like this was really good casting for this character.

I felt like this entire cast had very good vocals, which is important given the incredible music in this show. The rest of this talented cast and creative team is listed here: https://shuckedmusical.com/#company

I do want to call out the choreography by Sarah O’Gleby, because what is the last show you saw where the choreography generates so many laughs? I’m of course talking about the corn dance she created. So funny.

I already mentioned this brilliant book is written by Robert Horn, and the fantastically wonderful original music and lyrics are by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. This is a cast recording to listen to over and over again. Jack O’Brien is the director. Additional creative team members are listed on the company page linked previously.

This very short run closes in Seattle tomorrow (Sunday), and it’s up next in Costa Mesa, California, on Tuesday. The full tour schedule is available at https://shuckedmusical.com

See more show reviews from 2025.