Aw-shucks! Get an earful at Shucked – Broadway’s corniest musical – at Belk Theater May 27 – June 1

If Broadway had an official vegetable, it would surely be corn.

Oklahoma’s “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” celebrates corn that’s “as high as an elephant’s eye.”

But Shucked, the 2023 Tony Award-winning musical with music and lyrics by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally and a book by Robert Horn (Tootsie, Designing Women), elevated maize even higher.

In a corn-loving town in Cob County, the beloved crop is dying. Maisy and Beau are engaged, but they don’t feel right about marrying until the dire problem is solved. So, Maisy bravely heads to “The Big City” – which turns out, comically, to be Tampa – in search of answers.

She meets a podiatrist – a “corn doctor” – and mistakenly believes he’s Cob County’s savior.  

Shucked’s marketing calls it as a “farm-to-fable” show and a “corn-fed, corn-bred American musical.” Quinn VanAntwerp, who plays conman (cornman?) Gordy Jackson in the touring company, said someone counted the corn puns in the show, and came up with more than 200.

VanAntwerp played Jersey Boys’ Bob Gaudio longer than any other actor – 3,000 performances! He’s also had recurring roles on AMC’s Better Call Saul and Showtime’s The Affair. 

We bent his ear (get it?) about the show he’s been part of since the beginning.

(Quinn VanAntwerp as Gordy in the North American SHUCKED Tour. Photo by Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman)

You were in Shucked on Broadway. Did you play Gordy there?
It was my first job post-pandemic. When I was first approached, I was like: What is a corn musical? But we went to this theater intensive in Connecticut to put this together. I was in the ensemble and understudied for Gordy. I got to be part of its creation from a very small beginning all the way to Broadway and beyond.

How do you describe Shucked to somebody who’s never heard of it?
It’s brand new; it’s not based on a book or movie, yet it will feel familiar to most. It’s kind of The Music Man meets Oklahoma meets Book of Mormon. Somebody recently called it “The Redneck Moana.”

I play the lovable bad guy. There are many laughs – and that’s important during a very divisive time – and lots of great music.

Is Gordy a little like Harold Hill from The Music Man?
Yes. I think he’s a bad, dime-store version of him, meaning not very successful. I like to include a little nod to Harold, which you’ll see in the show.

(Quinn VanAntwerp as Gordy & Miki Abraham as Lulu in the North American SHUCKED Tour. Photo by Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman)

What’s your favorite Shucked song?
Brandy and Shane have many Grammys between them. Shane’s written, like, over 100 of your favorite country songs. But there are a couple of songs that I think could be on country radio right now. “Somebody Will” is one.

My favorite song is in Act II. “Best Friends” is about two cousins who’ve had a big disagreement, and they decide there are certain things more important than agreeing all the time. It’s a beautiful song and sentiment. I’m not on stage for it, but I love being backstage and hearing it every night.

And “Independently Owned” is really powerful – a real show-stopping moment.

Do you have a favorite moment in the show?
My favorite moment is the ending, and it’s something we kind of stumbled on during a pre-Broadway workshop. It’s the moment I thought: OK, this show is actually going to go somewhere. It was already the most hilarious script I’d ever read. The music was always great. But there was something about this ending that just felt like – well, I didn’t expect to be crying at a corn musical.

(The Cast of The North American Tour of SHUCKED. Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.)

The ending sums up our message of loving each other regardless of our differences. Every night, I’m shocked after all the fun and laughter to have this poignant moment.

I had no idea people might need tissues at a corn musical!

It’s not sad, but it’s moving.

Do fans ever show up in costume?
Absolutely. We had kind of a cult following in New York. Our first preview was crazy. I’ve done a lot of big comedies, but I’ve never heard laughter like that. On Broadway, people brought corn art to the theater. We were inundated with corn. It’s been fun to bring this show through the South. That’s where this music and the comedy come from.

I imagined it being set in the South, but I read it’s the Midwest.
That’s actually a big argument. In my mind, it was in the South, too. I think we can say it’s set somewhere between the South and Iowa.

 

Have you played Tampa yet?
No, but we will soon after Charlotte, and we’re excited. My character is from Tampa. I’m looking forward to seeing whether they welcome us or boo me out of town.

No one’s ever left Cob County, where our story takes place. The heroine goes to The Big City, and everyone’s scared about she’ll find there. But what she finds are strip malls.  

Do you miss playing Bob Gaudio? Do you ever accidentally start to say one of his lines?
I did Jersey Boys for eight years. I met my wife on Jersey Boys. Playing that part changed my life. But what’s funny is that I actually can’t remember most of my lines.

You had a baby not long ago.

She was born when we were previewing Shucked on Broadway, so I missed opening night. She’s now 2 and travels with us; she’s become our little mascot out here on the road. My wife, Mackenzie Bell, is in the show, too – she’s one of the swings – and we’re having a grand family adventure.

I’m sure you’ve seen the little boy who went viral a few years ago because of his love of corn.

The Corn Kid! He was one of our spokespeople on Broadway. He was at our show all the time. He hosted our yellow carpet. He’s a good, sweet kid, and his love of corn is, I think, even greater than ours.