Since 2018, I've been doing a series on this website titled 'And the Tony Almost Went to...', where I take a deep dive into a show that (likely) came in second for Best Musical in any previous Tony Awards year. While there are some years where the runner-up seems obvious, there are others where they don't appear to be as much. So in this series, I focus on a musical that might've finished in third place at best, but some people argue could've been in second. For the 2023 edition of 'And the Tony Almost Went to...', I settled on Some Like It Hot as the runner-up to Kimberly Akimbo Today, we're going to look into whether or not it could've actually been Shucked.
Shucked is a completely original musical set in the fictional Cob County. It tells an audacious farm-to-fable tale about the one thing Americans everywhere can't get enough of: corn. This project was partially derived from one of book writer Robert Horn's earlier projects, 2015's Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical. Originally, the show was scheduled for a run in late 2020 at The National Theatre in Washington, D.C. Yet it was subsequently cancelled due to the COVID-19.
After undergoing rewrites during the pandemic, Shucked had its world premiere at the Pioneer Memorial Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah. It later opened on March 8th, 2023 at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway. The original cast included Caroline Innerbichler as Maizy, Alex Newell as Lulu, John Behlmann as Gordy, Kevin Cahoon as Peanut, Andrew Durand as Beau, Ashley D. Kelley as Storyteller 1, and Grey Henson as Storyteller 2.
The production received 9 Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Kevin Cahoon; Alex Newell*), Best Direction of a Musical (Jack O'Brien), Best Book of a Musical (Robert Horn), Best Original Score (Brandy Clark & Shane McAnally), Best Orchestrations (Jason Howland), Best Sound Design of a Musical (Shivers), and Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Scott Pask).
*denotes an award it won.
So where do I think Shucked finished in the final rankings of the 2023 Best Musical nominees?
On the One Hand...P.
On the Other Hand...O.
In the End...a. Shucked later closed on January 14th, 2024 after 327 performances.
After undergoing rewrites during the pandemic, Shucked had its world premiere at the Pioneer Memorial Theatre in Salt Lake City, Utah. It later opened on March 8th, 2023 at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway. The original cast included Caroline Innerbichler as Maizy, Alex Newell as Lulu, John Behlmann as Gordy, Kevin Cahoon as Peanut, Andrew Durand as Beau, Ashley D. Kelley as Storyteller 1, and Grey Henson as Storyteller 2.
The production received 9 Tony Award nominations for Best Musical, Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Kevin Cahoon; Alex Newell*), Best Direction of a Musical (Jack O'Brien), Best Book of a Musical (Robert Horn), Best Original Score (Brandy Clark & Shane McAnally), Best Orchestrations (Jason Howland), Best Sound Design of a Musical (Shivers), and Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Scott Pask).
*denotes an award it won.
So where do I think Shucked finished in the final rankings of the 2023 Best Musical nominees?
On the One Hand...P.
On the Other Hand...O.
In the End...a. Shucked later closed on January 14th, 2024 after 327 performances.