SHUCKED

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

★★★★★

“The fun factor is dolloped on as thick as melted butter on crispy corn on the cob”

You can imagine exactly whereabouts in the United States Cob County (the fictional location for the musical comedy “Shucked”) would lie. Somewhere on the border of Arkansas and Oklahoma, where the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye, and the town-folk, dressed like raggedy scarecrows, can’t see beyond the wall of maize that shields the outside world. ‘People don’t leave Cob County’, we are told. Well, hey, if I found myself there, I’d never want to leave either judging by the sheer joy even just two hours in their company can give.

Regents Park Open Air Theatre is the perfect backdrop for this real gem of a musical. A score of catchy tunes; a Prairie-sized dose of charm and compassion; a wagonload of amazeballs song and dance and the corniest jokes you dare to imagine, all roll into town, via Broadway, to give us a night we’re going to remember for quite some time. Robert Horn’s book openly celebrates its own richly flavoured cheesiness by packing it full of puns and punchlines, while Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally’s country-tinged music and lyrics keeps the smile firmly on our faces with their mix of foot-tapping, bluesy reels and soul-stirring ballads. This formula really shouldn’t work. The story is preposterous, the final message unbelievably schmaltzy and some of the jokes as old as the American Outback; yet we are ‘shucked’ into loving it (a hasty qualification needed here – some of the one-liners are, in fact, surprisingly audacious and shockingly risqué, and would mercifully go over the heads of the younger members of the audience).

We are introduced to the Midwestern community by way of Storyteller One and Storyteller Two; Monique Ashe-Palmer and Steven Webb respectively – a joyous pair whose comic timing and flair keep the narrative in check with a rancher’s whip-cracking skill. At the heart of the story is Maizy (Sophie McShera) whose wedding vows to Beau (Ben Joyce) are interrupted by the corn crop suddenly and mysteriously dying. An unsolved mystery – which, in fact, is just a mystery – Webb tells us. Maizy dares to venture beyond the county limits in order to find a solution to the crop failure. She winds up in Tampa, an exaggerated, greeting-card-type metropolis where she meets grifter Gordy (Matthew Seadon-Young), a corn doctor (of course). Gordy is in debt to some not-so-gangsterish gangsters, and he sees in Maizy an opportunity to do some good ole shucking and shake off his creditors. Maizy, on the rebound from breaking off with Beau, is lovestruck, and the two of them head back to Cob County. What follows is a messy mix of misdirected romance, deception, and a full-on, heart-on-sleeve parable about the strength of community, family and belonging, and the triumph of good over bad.

To put it simply, the cast is outstanding. McShera’s Maizy has a real sense of the comedy but layers it with a steely tenderness that refuses to suffer fools. And a voice to match. Joyce’s literal-minded Beau is a delight, seeing the world in black and white but colouring it in with splashes of charisma and slapstick empathy. And a voice to match. His side kick and brother, Peanut – played by the terrific Keith Ramsay – has the burden of the corny jokes but he carries them all with an ease, delivering them with a deadpan hilarity. Meanwhile, Maizy’s cousin, the whisky-brewing, sassy Lulu is a tour de force of a performance in the hands of Georgina Onuorah. And a voice to match (have I said that?). In fact, Onuorah’s voice soars above all else. Seadon-Young is slick as oil as the slippery Gordy wishing he was better at being bad, though his performance couldn’t be better if he tried. Director Jack O’Brien brings out the best in all of them, including the ensemble – highlighting Sarah O’Gleby’s inventive choreography which occasionally verges on the acrobatic – and some perilous use of barrels and planks.

The music worms its way into our ears and takes root. At once familiar in its mix of pop, musical theatre, country and some serious balladeering; but unique enough to sound fresh and lyrically holding its own against the onslaught of wordplay in the book. From the rousing opening number ‘Corn’, through the obligatory ballads (mostly given to McShera); Seadon-Young’s bluesy ‘Bad’ and Onuorah’s showstopping ‘Independently Owned’, the numbers are a delight. This isn’t high art, but the spirit (and the corn) is sky high. An elephant’s eye wouldn’t come close. The fun factor is dolloped on as thick as melted butter on crispy corn on the cob. If it’s possible, this musical is tastier even. Sweeter, cheesier and packed with joy. One taste and you’ll be wanting to go back for more.

SHUCKED

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Reviewed on 20th May 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Pamela Raith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF | ★★★★★ | August 2024

THE SECRET GARDEN | ★★★ | June 2024

THE ENORMOUS CROCODILE | ★★★★ | May 2024

TWELFTH NIGHT | ★★★★★ | May 2024

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES | ★★★★★ | August 2023

ROBIN HOOD: THE LEGEND. RE-WRITTEN | ★★ | June 2023

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND | ★★★★ | May 2023

LEGALLY BLONDE | ★★★ | May 2022

ROMEO AND JULIET | ★★★★ | June 2021

SHUCKED

★★★★

“This is a blazing production, burning with wit and charm, song and dance, and with a feelgood finale that is far hotter than a British summer”

We are officially in summer in a couple of days’ time, although it might not necessarily feel like it. But a couple of bars into the overture of Cole Porter’s classic, “Kiss Me, Kate” and the clouds disappear. We are instantly put in a good mood, unable to resist the warmth and the joie de vivre this sizzling and silly musical has to offer. Porter is on top form, complemented brilliantly by Sam and Bella Spewack’s book which adopts Shakespeare’s ‘play-within-a-play’ trick, taking its subterfuge to new heights.

Both ‘Taming of the Shrew’ and ‘Kiss Me, Kate’ have gathered accusations of misogyny over time, but if you look deeper, the bard and the songsmith are, in fact, championing women’s rights. And Bartlett Sher’s revival brushes off any remaining crumbs of sexism that may linger with this revival. The sheer force of the two leading ladies’ performances, of course, helps immensely.

The show opens with a curtain call. One that is being rehearsed for the opening night of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’. Fred (Adrian Dunbar), the egotistical director and producer, is starring as Petruchio while his ex-wife, Lilli (Stephanie J. Block), plays Katherine. The two bicker constantly, like Burton and Taylor on a bad day, yet Dunbar and Block effortlessly reveal the deep-seated, hidden love and affection they still hold for each other. The only casualty here is the ‘will-they-won’t-they’ dynamic – we just know from the off that they’ll eventually reconcile, despite Lilli being betrothed to a strait-laced, regimental General Harrison Howell (a delightful cameo from the underused Peter Davison).

Meanwhile Lois (Georgina Onuorah) and her gambling, misbehaving boyfriend, Bill (Charlie Stemp), are enjoying their own backstage tussles. Not least because there’s a thing going on between Lois and Fred. The shenanigans don’t stay in the green room, however, but are dragged kicking and screaming onto the stage, playing havoc with Shakespeare’s storyline. Throw in a couple of gangsters chasing a gambling debt (Hammed Animashaun and Nigel Lindsay), and the farce is complete.

It is a star-studded production, with an equally starry ensemble. Everyone has a moment to glow in the spotlight, yet nobody outshines anyone else. Each swing, and chorus member, portrays a well-defined, unspoken personality too. Anthony Van Laast’s choreography is stunning, not just visually but also in its storytelling, reaching its climax in the Act Two opener, ‘Too Darn Hot’, which elicited an ovation that finally had to be cut short by the performers themselves, worried that they might miss the last train home.

Matching the dancing skills are the vocal skills. Georgina Onuorah and Stephanie J. Block mix power with fragility, wit with emotion. Onuorah’s show-stopping ‘Always True to You in My Fashion’ is another highlight, while Block’s ‘So in Love’ is steeped in gorgeous torment. Slightly out of his depth, Adrian Dunbar reprises the number. He can hold a tune, for sure, but his vocal shortcomings do stand out against the sheer wall of virtuosity he is surrounded by. Dunbar’s own virtuosity is confined to his character acting and comic timing which is, indeed, spot on. Hammed Animashaun and Nigel Lindsay, on the other hand, are a double act with a triple threat, showcased by their superbly comic performance, and brilliant rendition of ‘Brush Up Your Shakespeare’.

Catherine Zuber’s costumes perfectly mirror the various elements of the show, mixing the eroticism of the backstage, sultry and sexy glamour with the onstage Elizabethan grandeur. Michael Yeargan’s revolving set seamlessly guides us through the stage door onto the stage, via the dressing rooms and back again. This is a blazing production, burning with wit and charm, song and dance, and with a feelgood finale that is far hotter than a British summer. While it’s definitely not too darn hot outside, inside the Barbican, it’s sizzling.

Tag Archives: Georgina Onuorah

SHUCKED

★★★★★

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

SHUCKED

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

★★★★★

“The fun factor is dolloped on as thick as melted butter on crispy corn on the cob”