Everything you need to know about 'Shucked' on Broadway

Learn more about the corny new musical cropping up in New York this spring.

Yee-haw! The country musical comedy Shucked is on Broadway this spring, and it's destined to be the cream of the crop. This "farm-to-fable" tale follows a young farmgirl on a quest to save her town, and it's filled with nonstop humor and ear-pleasing tunes.

That's no surprise, as the creative team are the cream of the crop in the theatre and country music worlds. Together, they've created a golden, fully original musical that's worth lending an ear to.

Below, find all the kernels of info you need to know about Shucked on Broadway, including performance and venue information, fun facts, and more.

Get Shucked tickets now.

What is Shucked about?

Shucked takes place in the fictional rural town of Cob County, which is surrounded by a thick wall of corn that sustains the town's livelihood. Suddenly, the corn begins to die, and it's up to farmgirl Maizy to venture out to a big city — Tampa — to get help. There, she meets "corn doctor" Gordy, who might not be all he seems to be.

Where is Shucked playing?

Shucked is at the Nederlander Theatre, located at 208 W 41st St. between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. It is the southernmost Broadway theatre. The building opened in 1921 and has been named the National Theatre, the Billy Rose Theatre, and the Trafalgar Theatre before being named for theatre impresario David Tobias Nederlander.

How long is Shucked?

Shucked runs approximately 2 hours. This is an average running time; Broadway shows often run anywhere from 90 minutes to just under 3 hours.

What days is Shucked playing?

In March, Shucked plays Monday through Saturday, with no performances on Sundays. Beginning in April, Shucked plays Tuesday through Sunday, with no performances on Mondays. Matinee performances take place in addition to evening performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and Sundays have a matinee only.

Visit the Shucked page for an up-to-date performance calendar.

Who wrote Shucked?

Shucked features a book by Robert Horn. In 2019, he was nominated for, and won, his first Tony Award for writing the book for the Tootsie Broadway musical. He also wrote the book for the musical 13 as well as its film adaptation, as well as Disney Channel movies including Teen Beach Movie, Teen Beach Movie 2, and Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure.

Nashville-based songwriting duo Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark are the composer/lyricists of Shucked on Broadway. McAnally and Clark have penned country songs for artists like Kacey Musgraves, Reba McEntire, Sheryl Crow, Miranda Lambert, The Band Perry, and more.

In 2022, McAnally became the most-nominated songwriter in the history of the Country Music Awards. He's also a three-time Grammy Award winner and has written 48 number-one songs. Clark is a three-time Grammy nominee and won the Song of the Year CMA for Musgraves's "Follow Your Arrow."

When did Shucked premiere?

Shucked is a farm-fresh new show, having premiered in 2022 in Salt Lake City, Utah before coming to Broadway. However, the idea took root years before. Learn more about how Shucked grew into its current version.

• 2013: McAnally, Clark, and Horn first collaborate on Moonshine, a musical inspired by the variety TV show Hee Haw.
• 2015: Moonshine makes its world premiere in Dallas. It was a flop, so they started again from scratch.
• 2022: The current version of Shucked premieres at Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Utah. The show still has a country flair, but it is no longer associated with Hee Haw.
• 2023: Shucked debuts on Broadway with most of the Utah cast.

Shucked characters

City slickers and country bumpkins collide in the Shucked musical. Learn about the Cob County residents and more that make up the main cast of characters.

• Maizy: A naive young farmgirl engaged to Beau. She delays their wedding in order to leave Cob County and find someone to save the town's dying corn crop.
• Beau: Maizy's fiancé. He gets upset when Gordy arrives, thinking he'll lose Maizy.
• Gordy: A podiatrist from Tampa. When he meets Maizy, he calls himself a "corn doctor" (partly as a pun on foot corns) and travels back with her to Cob County.
• Lulu: Maizy's cousin and the Cob County resident who's wisest to the outside world.
• Peanut: Beau's goofy brother, who's always quick with a dad joke.
• Storytellers: A pair of performers who narrate the story of Shucked to the audience.

What are the songs in Shucked?

The Shucked musical has a score that blends country and musical theatre sounds. Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark bring their wealth of experience in country songwriting to this musical, penning fun and heartfelt tunes with a twang. Here are all the songs in Shucked on Broadway.

Act 1

• "Corn" - Storytellers and Ensemble
• "Walls" - Maizy and Ensemble
• "Travelin' Song" - Storytellers, Maizy, and Ensemble
• "Bad" - Gordy and Ensemble
• "Woman of the World" - Maizy and Ensemble
• "Somebody Will" - Beau and Ensemble
• "Independently Owned" - Lulu
• "Holy Shit" - Peanut, Beau, and Lulu
• "Maybe Love" - Maizy
• "Corn (Reprise)" - Ensemble

Act 2

• "We Love Jesus" - Ensemble
• "OK" - Beau
• "I Do" - Maizy, Lulu, Beau, Gordy, and Storytellers
• "Friends" - Maizy and Lulu
• "Best Man Wins" - Peanut, Beau, and Ensemble
• "Corn Mix" - Full Company
• "Maybe Love (Reprise)" - Full Company

What awards has Shucked won?

Since Shucked on Broadway is the show's first production in a major theatre hub, it hasn't won any awards just yet. That could change come the 2023 awards season, as the play will be eligible for Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle Awards.

Though the show hasn't won awards, Shucked received acclaim upon its world premiere in Utah. A review in Salt Lake City Weekly reads, "Beyond the jokes — delivered with pinpoint timing by a terrific cast — there are the tunes, which almost uniformly work both as story-driving components and songs that would stand alone on a showtunes playlist. It’s simply an all-killer, no-filler lineup."

Major productions of Shucked

There are only two major productions of Shucked thus far: its world premiere at Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Broadway premiere. If the show is a success, this production could lead to plenty more across the country and the world.

Fun facts about Shucked

Hungry for more? Here are some more kernels of information about Shucked on Broadway.

• Horn has said of Shucked, "We wanted it to be a fable, a morality tale, something funny yet moving, simple yet thoughtful, with a wink and an edge... What is finally on that stage is a story about how we all have the gift of heroism inside us, about learning to open our hearts to those who are different than us."
• Director Jack O'Brien is a five-time Tony winner whose award-winning credits include Hairspray, Henry VI, and all three parts of The Coast of Utopia. His other Tony-nominated musical credits include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Full Monty.
• Fans of The Music Man might spot some similarities in Shucked. Shucked features a con man who tries to swindle Cob County. The Music Man's lead character is Professor Harold Hill, a con man who tries to swindle River City, another fictional small town.
• Though Shucked is no longer based on Hee Haw, there are a few similarities between this musical and Moonshine. That show was set in Kornfield Kounty, and its main character's name was Misty. The characters of Gordy and Lulu were also in Moonshine.

How to get Shucked tickets

Shucked tickets are ripe for the picking. For audiences looking for clever, though corny, humor and a fully original story, Shucked will be music to their ears.

Get Shucked tickets now.

Photo credit: Emilio Madrid