REBA McENTIRE URGES BROADWAY FANS TO “SEE WHAT THE ‘SHUCK’ EVERYONE’S BEEN TALKING ABOUT” IN NEW TV SPOT ENDORSING “SHUCKED”
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, PLEASE
THE QUEEN OF COUNTRY
REBA McENTIRE
URGES BROADWAY FANS TO
“SEE WHAT THE SHUCK EVERYONE’S BEEN TALKING ABOUT”
IN NEW TV SPOT ENDORSING
“SHUCKED”
WATCH ON YOUTUBE HERE
New York, NY (September 29, 2023) – Reba McEntire, the Queen of Country who wowed Broadway audiences with her much-lauded 2001 turn in the title role of Annie Get Your Gun, is putting her considerable star power behind a musical she’s otherwise unaffiliated with: Shucked.
The musical comedy, which opened earlier this year to rave reviews and earned a 2023 Tony Award nomination for Best Musical, has unveiled its latest television ad campaign featuring McEntire giving a rare, full-throated endorsement of the show.
In the spot, McEntire compares the corn-centric musical to Broadway classics with similarly unexpected subject matter, including Fiddler on the Roof,Sweeney Todd, Hamilton, and Cats saying, “Every generation has a great musical that makes you ask, ‘What the hell?’”
McEntire said in a statement, “The only thing I love as much as great music is great comedy, so seeing Shucked is just about the most fun I can have without breaking the law. It fills me with pride knowing that two of Nashville’s best songwriters, Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark, wrote its score. It’s not every day that country artists are represented on Broadway, and this is my way of celebrating their success and their tremendous talent.”
With a “superb book” (New York Post) by Tony Award winner Robert Horn, a score filled with “earworm songs” (The Daily Beast) by Tony Award nominees and Nashville music superstars Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, and directed with “an infectious spirit of glee and warmth” (Variety) by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien stars (in alphabetical order) Outer Critics Circle Award nominee John Behlmann, Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominee Kevin Cahoon, Drama Desk Award nominee Andrew Durand, Tony Award nominee Grey Henson, Theatre World Award winner Ashley D. Kelley, Isabelle McCalla, and Tony Award winner, Drama Desk Award winner, Outer Critics Circle Award winner, and Drama League Award nominee Alex Newell.
The ensemble of Shucked features Jimmy Brewer, Audrey Cardwell, Dwayne Clark, Rheaume Crenshaw, Nyla Sostre, Scott Stangland, Yasmeen Sulieman, and Quinn VanAntwerp. The swings are Miki Abraham, Ken Wulf Clark, Colin Cunliffe, Traci Elaine Lee, and Alan Wiggins.
When it opened on Broadway April 4, 2023, the show had critics rolling in the aisles celebrating the birth of an entirely original musical comedy. Here’s a sampling of what they said:
“Shucked is the surprise delight of the season. Robert Horn’s fantastical narrative is filed with exuberance, heart, characters to care about, and non-stop yucks. Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally’s songs perfectly rise from the emotion, offering ear-worm melodies and on-the-money theatrical moments which the talented cast plays to the hilt. Jack O’Brien brings and infectious spirit of glee, warmth, and discovery to the production which is a throwback to the joys of musical comedy: where fresh talent is discovered, songs are catchy, jokes are plentiful, and characters are appealing and fun.
– Frank Rizzo, Variety
“Shucked is the best and funniest new musical on Broadway. With a tuneful score by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally and superb book by Robert Horn, it is just so damn funny the audience sits in a state of perpetual giggle. All you think about at Shuckedis what a terrific time you’re having. Nothing corny about that.”
– Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post
“Shucked may be one of the savviest new shows on Broadway. Kernels of sidesplitting silliness pop all the way through this Broadway musical which is so packed with an endlessly a-maizing cornucopia of jokes it practically stalks you for laughs. I dare you to take a seat in the Nederlander Theatre and not give in to the nonstop agronomic zaniness.”
– Peter Marks, Washington Post
“A deliciously relentless, gleefully silly, joke-stuffed musical with a hilarious book by Robert Horn and immediately hummable ear-worm songs by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally that are just as funny as the jokes. The joy of the show is sitting back and drinking in Shucked’s ridiculous sense of fun. Under Jack O’Brien’s mischievous direction, the production features lush lighting by Japhy Weideman and yee-ha plaid-perfect costumes by Tilly Grimes. Sarah O’Gleby’s playful choreography nimbly fills the stage with both dazzling dance as well as a witty series of frozen tableaux. Jason Howland’s music supervision, direction, orchestrations, and arrangements shine.’”
– Tim Teeman, The Daily Beast
“A timely new musical with more gags than every other current Broadway show put together. It sends a warm-hearted message in the form of a Broadway show that takes a leaf out of Dolly Parton’s book and appeal to Boone County, Kentucky, as much as Brooklyn, New York. Jack O’Brien is a master craftsman who takes the risks required for big laughs.”
– Chris Jones, New York Daily News
“You’ll love it! The proof is in the (corn) pudding and the fact that everyone ends up laughing. It helps that Shucked’s corn is some triple-A product: the direction’s tight, there’s barely any dead air onstage, and the musical speeds toward its happy conclusion.”
– Jackson McHenry, New York Magazine
“Robert Horn, Brandy Clark, and Shane McAnally are a match made in some bizarro Broadway cornfield of dreams. Shucked, combines winking hayseed humor with decidedly urban, gently subversive camp.”
– Greg Evans, Deadline
The new musical was nominated for nine Tony Awards® winning Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Newell, the first time in Tony Awards history that a non-binary performer won a prize, 12 Drama Desk Awards winning Best Music for Clark and McAnally and Best Featured Performance in a Musical for Newell, seven Outer Critics Circle Awards winning for Best Book for Horn and Best Featured Performance in a Musical for Newell, and three Drama League Awards including Best Musical.
What do you get when you pair a semi-neurotic, New York comedy writer with two music superstars from Nashville? A hilarious and audacious farm-to-fable musical about the one thing Americans everywhere can’t get enough of: corn. Shucked is the new musical comedy that proves sometimes tearing down a few walls, rather than growing them, is the only way to preserve our way of life. Shucked is turning Broadway on its ear and is offering a kernel of hope for our divided nation.
With choreography by Sarah O’Gleby, and music supervision, music direction, orchestrations, and arrangements by 2023 Tony Award, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award nominee Jason Howland, the design team for Shucked includes 2023 Tony Award nominee and Tony Award winner Scott Pask (scenic design), 2023 Drama Desk Award nominee Tilly Grimes (costume design), Tony Award nominee Japhy Weideman (lighting design), Tony Award winner and 2023 Drama Desk Award nominee John Shivers (sound design), Academy Award® winner and Emmy Award® winner Mia Neal (wig design), and Stephen Kopel, C12 Casting (casting director).
Tickets are on sale now via www.shuckedmusical.com, www.broadwaydirect.com, or at the Nederlander Theatre box office (208 West 41st Street).
Shucked is produced by Mike Bosner, Jason Owen, AEG Presents/Jay Marciano/Gary Gersh, Jeffrey A. Sine, Richard Smith, Silvia Schmid, Bob Boyett, Jeremiah J. Harris, James L. Nederlander, EST/Emily Tisch, Sony Music Entertainment, DudaAllen, David W. Busch, Karen Fairchild, Horipro Inc., Gordon-Helfner, John Gore Organization, Madison Wells Live, S&Co., Terry Schnuck, Jimi Westbrook, and ZKM Media.
The Shucked – Original Broadway Cast Recording is available on all streaming platforms and CD HERE. The album is produced by Jason Howland, Billy Jay Stein, and the show’s composers Shane McAnally, and Brandy Clark.
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