Latest news with #Shucked
New European
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New European
Corny country musical Shucked is no Book of Mormon
There's always a cheering atmosphere at the first night of the opening show of Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London as it brings with it the prospect of long summer nights and swimming pools full of chilled rosé wine. I would not say Jack O'Brien's production of Robert Horn's hit US country musical comedy Shucked amounts to vintage Regent's Park – he is a good, spirited director of a very slight sort of show – but the good-nature of the cast and the great set from Scott Pask make it all seem a lot more than the sum of its parts. There's a lot of yee-hawing among the farm hands as Maizy – Sophie McShera – prepares to marry Beau – Ben Joyce – in corn country. But ultimately it all feels a bit like a sub-prime Oklahoma, and, whatever else one might say about Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally's music and lyrics, they sure ain't up there with Rodgers and Hammerstein. It feels ambitious to say, as some have done, that this could be as big as The Book Of Mormon. Its big redeeming feature is Keith Ramsay wisecracking his way through the proceedings, noting, among other things, that the women who want sensitive, intelligent boyfriends seldom notice that those potential boyfriends already have boyfriends.
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Rachel Zegler wows in figure-hugging black dress as she joins a stylish Lizzie Cundy for night out at the theatre
Rachel Zegler wowed as she opted for a simple figure-hugging black dress as she attended the opening night of Tony Award-winning musical comedy, Shucked, in London on Tuesday. The Snow White actress, 24, beamed in snaps in the low cut number as she was joined by choreographer Fabian Eloise. Rachel was joined at the event by a stylish Lizzie Cundy who looked incredible in a white off-the-shoulder midi dress, featuring a pink floral print, puffed sleeves, and a figure-hugging silhouette. The TV personality, 37, added inches to her height with hot pink stud-embellished court heels as she posed for the cameras. Lizzie further accessorised her ensemble with a multicoloured beaded bracelet and a dainty gold necklace. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. To complete her look, she styled her blonde locks in a voluminous blowout and wore a radiant makeup palette A host of stars including Graham Norton, Sir Ian McKellen, Bruno Tonioli and Amber Davies were also in attendance at the event. Shucked, a musical comedy, tells the story of a small town where the corn crop is dying and a young woman, Maizy, seeks help in the big city. The West End premiere of Shucked will run at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre until June 14. Lizzie's outing comes after she cut a glamorous figure in a gold dress as she enjoyed a boozy girls' night out with Ruth Langsford for her pre-birthday celebrations last month. Taking to Instagram, Lizzie posted a snap of her and Ruth out with two other pals at Bacchanalia in Mayfair. She penned in the caption: 'Pre birthday fun! @ruthlangsford @liztaylorconsultancy @bacchanalialdn @taylorlynncorp.' Ruth - who looked chic in a white suit for the occasion - commented on her post saying: 'Wonderful, fun evening as always!' The TV personality, 57, added inches to her height with hot pink stud-embellished court heels as she posed for the cameras The Loose Women star had also taken to her Story as she headed out to meet the girls and told her fans she was 'going out out'. She looked great in her white jacket, which she wore with black trousers, and had her blonde tresses styled in a bouncy blow-dry. The outing came after Lizzie lifted the lid on the not-so-glamorous life of a Bond girl, following her appearance in 1995's Goldeneye. The former WAG and TV personality recalled her experience on the set exclusively with MailOnline, which she described as 'hell'. In the movie, which was Pierce Brosnan's first outing as 007, Lizzie appeared as Famke Janssen's body double in the famous sauna scene where the character Xenia Onatopp tried to strangle Bond with her legs. Lizzie revealed how Pierce, now 72, who was wrapped only in a towel, was the 'hairiest man she'd ever seen' and joked she feared getting 'fur balls'. She said: 'He was a lovely bloke, so funny and we got on like a house on fire, but so hairy, like an otter.' She recalled landing the role at the very last minute due to her having the same measurements as the Danish actress, but spent much of her time waiting in a tiny trailer which 'smelled of fish'. If that wasn't bad enough, once on set, Lizzie said Pierce's stand-in also stank, and she was forced to endure the stench during rehearsals before the star arrived. Meanwhile, Christopher Biggins cut a smart casual figure in a beige blazer, a baby blue shirt, and khaki trousers as he beamed for the cameras Lizzie's outing comes after she cut a glamorous figure in a gold dress as she enjoyed a boozy girls' night out with Ruth Langsford (left) for her pre-birthday celebrations last month She laughed: 'I had to do the practicing with this smelly man, who had body odour, it was awful. It wasn't glamorous, it wasn't well paid.' Despite Bond's million-pound budgets, Lizzie revealed that she only received £250 for her work on the film, but was thankfully invited for 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies. She said: 'It sounds glamorous, but there was lots of waiting around and films aren't always cracked up to be.'
Time Out
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Keith Ramsay (Peanut)
Corn. Corn. Corn corn corn. Corncorncorncorncorn. Corn. Corn corn corn corn. Corn. Corn. Corn. Corn. Coooooooooooooooooooooooorn. Crn. CORN. CORN! Corn. Corn? ¡Corn! Corn. Broadway hit Shucked is a musical about corn, and very funny it is too. In part that's simply because a story about a group of corn-loving hicks is intrinsically amusing: corn! It's a funny word in its way, especially when said as often as it's said in Shucked (which is a lot). And it's not just jokes about corn: book writer Robert Horn is an absolute ninja with a one-liner, and Shucked is near enough wall-to-wall with the things. I sort of don't want to spoil any. But I also want to prove I didn't just go along for the press buffet (chargrilled corn and cornbread) so here are a few gems: 'I was playing frisbee with a goat; he's a lot heavier than I thought'; 'your grandma died doing what she loved – making toast in the bathtub'; 'he was head over heels, which is just standing upright'; just multiply that sort of thing by around 200 and you've got a pretty good idea what the show is like. There's a moment early on in Jack O'Brian's production when it looks like Shucked might serve as an acerbic satire on America's capacity for self delusion. It's set in the town of Cob County, a corn-growing community that has apparently avoided all meaningful contact with the outside world, which sounds like a solid metaphor for American isolationism, especially when the crop fails and the townspeople react with disdainful horror when plucky youngster Maizy (Sophie McShera) suggests she go out into the outside world to look for answers. The show is narrated by the amusingly inept Storyteller 1 (Monique Ashe-Palmer) and Storyteller 2 (Stephen Webb), who have the air of two overgrown, overexcited children tasked with delivering a school assembly. There's another brilliantly satirical moment when they look at each other with panicked uncertainty during their assertion that nobody owned the land when their pilgrim forefathers showed up. But after that it's mostly just corn gags. Arguably the plot is simply 'corn puns' Shucked is as good as its one-liners, which is to say that it's very good while the one-liners are being delivered, but there's not a lot there beyond them. The plot follows a formulaic turn, not dissimilar to Calamity Jane, as plucky Maizy ventures out into civilization (well, Tampa, Florida, a concept that's probably funnier if you're American), leaving her more conservative fiance Beau (Ben Joyce) behind. Eventually she crosses paths with Matthew Seadon-Young's dodgy 'big city' podiatrist Gordy– that is to say he treats corns, not corn, but Maizy fails to understand the difference. Determining that Cob County seems to possess an abundance of a rare, valuable mineral that could make his debts go away, Gordy tells the now smitten Maizy that he can solve the town's ills. The characters are all fairly rote – despite his blank slate nature Webb's childishly overexcited Storyteller 2 is the most original creation, although Georgina Onuorah is magnificent as Maizy's monumentally sassy cousin Lulu. There's barely the pretence that Beau's brother Peanut (Keith Ramsay) is even a character: he's just a kind of savant pun dispenser, which is saying something by this show's standards. The country-style songs by Brandy Clarke and Shane McAnally are left to deepen and humanise the characters a little, though it's a mixed bag - the galloping hoedown breakdown of opener 'Corn' (yes, really) is one of several genuinely very amusing tunes, but other songs have an earnestness that feels completely out of place. I can see why Shucked would have been a breath of fresh air on Broadway, where it came from leftfield with an enigmatic advertising campaign purely based on corn puns, with no explanation of what the plot was (I mean arguably the plot is in fact 'corn puns'). But it comes to London as the opening show in Drew McOnie's first season at the Open Air Theatre with the sense it's less an eccentric piece of outsider art, but rather a big shiny Broadway hit. It maybe doesn't have the underdog charm it has in the US, and its flaws are more exposed. I'd also maybe point to the fact it's panto-like, an artform Americans are rarely exposed to but that we're inundated with every year. In general I think it could be spikier, darker and more satirical, but presumably Horn simply isn't into that.
Gulf Today
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
Broadway's Andrew Durand reveals the secret to stillness
One of Broadway's more impressive performances this season is by Andrew Durand, who is a kinetic force in the first half of 'Dead Outlaw' and absolutely motionless in the second. For some 40 minutes, he's a corpse, standing in a coffin. 'Some nights I want to scream. Some nights I want to rip my skin off — that pressure that you can't move starts to get to me. And so there are nights that it is very challenging,' says the actor. Durand stars in the musical as Elmer McCurdy, a real-life alcoholic drifter-turned-failed bandit who was shot dead in 1911 but whose afterlife proved to be stranger than fiction. His embalmed body becomes a prized possession for half a century, transported across the country to take part in carnival sideshows, wax museums, Hollywood horror movies, roadside attractions and, finally, a prop at an amusement-park ride in the 1970s. 'You watch him have this successful career as a corpse,' says Durand. 'I think it just makes people really think about their own humanity: What's important while we are alive? What do we do with the time that we have while we're alive?' The musical — conceived by David Yazbek, who wrote the 'Dead Outlaw' music and lyrics with Erik Della Penna — reunites Yazbek with book writer Itamar Moses and the director David Cromer, who collaborated so winningly on 'The Band's Visit.' It's Durand's first time as the lead on Broadway, following roles in 'Shucked,' 'Ink,' Head Over Heels' and 'War Horse.' He spent many years with the Kneehigh Theatre Company, a troupe where the ensemble was highlighted. 'My favourite thing about theater is the collaborative nature,' he says. 'It's a big moment for me, and I'm excited about it. But, yes, I'm trying to remain grounded.' Durand, who hails from Rossville, Georgia, has been with 'Dead Outlaw' from the beginning when he was cast in last year's off-Broadway premiere. That's a lot of standing and not moving. 'It's different every night in terms of how easy it is on my body. Some nights I just sail through and I'm like, 'Oh, I didn't have to blink once and it was fine.' And then other nights my toes are falling asleep and there's tears running down my face.' While in the first half he's a hard-drinking, hard-fighting, table-jumping restless soul, he says he sets small goals during his time as a corpse, like waiting for the exact moment when a co-star walks in front of him so he can blink or swallow. He also plays word games in his head. 'I'll think of a word like 'pencil.' And then I'll try to think of a bunch of other words that start with the letter 'P.' And then if I find myself saying 'pickle,' then I start to think about foods,' he says. 'It's just like stream-of-consciousness things to keep me distracted from what's going on.' His nights would be easier if the show just replaced him with a dummy, but Cromer, at the first workshop, approached Durand and nixed that notion. 'He said, 'Just so you know, if this show happens, I'm not going to make a dummy version of you to put in that coffin. I think it's very important to have the actual performer in that coffin so that we are constantly reminded of his humanity.'' Cromer has been amazed at how Durand has created a character of straightforwardness and truthfulness simply from studying a photograph of McCurdy. 'Andrew Durand as a performer is a guy who you give him whatever the prompt is and he goes away and brings you 10 times more than you asked for and has completely created, well-thought-out version of things,' says the director. 'Dead Outlaw' is not Durand's first time playing a corpse onstage. He portrayed a dead man as a teenager in a community playhouse production of 'Arsenic and Old Lace.' Years later, he's just trying to serve his new work. Associated Press
Time Out
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The best open air theatre shows to see in London this summer
I'm Andrzej, the theatre editor at Time Out, and as I type this we're having a balmy early May and nothing on the planet seems as wonderful as the London open air theatre season, which has just begun. Obviously it's not going to last, but open air season is – as much as anything else – an annual act of defiance of the English weather, and there's nothing wrong with that. Here's my pick of the most exciting open air shows to see this season, which starts now and runs on until basically the end of October Funniest show: Shucked Timothy Sheader was one of London's longest-serving artistic directors, having run the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre – on the whole, brilliantly – for 18 years until he surprisingly went off to the Donmar last year. As far as it's possible to tell from a single summer season, Drew McOnie has not tinkered heavily with the OAT's musicals-heavy formula, but he has got one hell of a musical to open his season. Shucked is a heavyweight Broadway smash that one would have probably expected to go into the West End (and it might still do so). But instead it opens McOnie's tenure at the OAT. Apparently it is very, very funny, a story of corn-loving hillbillies who venture into the big city for the first time after their corn harvest fails. Open Air Theatre, May 10-Jun 14. Book tickets here. Heaviest show: The Crucible The Shakespeare's Globe outdoor season is always pretty damn reliable and while there are a couple of more outre choices for 2025 – Troilus and Cressida, anyone? – you can take my word for it that the whole thing looks like a safe bet. The big point of interest this summer is Ola Ince's revival of Arthur Miller's all time American classic The Crucible – I believe I'm right in saying that there has never been either an American play or a twentieth century play staged there. But with its epic scope, shadings of the magical and close-to-Shakespeare's-day setting, The Crucible feels like a fit so perfect it's incredible it hasn't been done before. Shakespeare in the Squares feels like the sort of concept that should be a decades-old London tradition, but in fact the company has only been around since 2016. The concept is pretty simple: each year the company tours a Shakespeare play around London's most charming garden squares (plus a few other outside spaces so it's not purely a tour of west London, although if you've ever wanted to hit up a posh west London square, this is your chance). And the Shakespeare is decent: none of the big names of the Globe or RSC and the productions are usually somewhat truncated, but thoughtful takes nonetheless. Which should stand them in good stead for this summer's pop hit-drenched take on The Taming of the Shrew, a deeply problematic play that can nonetheless be a lot of fun if approached smartly. Various locations, Jun 4-Jul 12. Most fabulous: West End Live There is nothing else in the UK quite like this enormous free festival of musical theatre, which takes over Trafalgar Square for a weekend every June. The deal is pretty simple: for two days the casts of a load of musicals sing a handful of their greatest hits, and while it's clearly not the same thing as getting a full show, it's a hell of a lot of incredible songs. A word to the wise: a lot of the biggest shows pile their West End Live slots in before their 2.30pm Saturday matinees and the crowd area can hit capacity very quickly at this time. Trafalgar Square, Jun 21 and 22. Best for families: Theatre on Kew Kew Gardens has a longstanding theatrical partnership with the Australian Shakespeare Company, which is a bit odd when you're first presented with it but kind of makes sense insofar as the ASC has a repertoire of all-ages open-air shows ready to go and appears to be happy to decamp to west London during the notoriously harsh Australian winters. It's one of the best spots in London to go for family open-air theatre, not least because your ticket to the show gets you general entry to Kew. This year's kids shows are The Dream Fairies (for little ones) and Alice in Wonderland (for bigger ones), or for an ultra atmospheric bit of more adult theatre there's Macbeth, which should be pretty amazing as darkness falls. Kew Gardens, Jul 18-Aug 31. Sadly not happening: River Stage A bit of a PSA here – the National Theatre has 'paused' its outdoor River Stage weekenders. This is a big shame, although the NT has a new leader (Indhu Rubasingham) who has only just got her feet under the table, but hopefully she'll come up with something next summer. Most spectacular: Greenwich + Docklands International Festival From simulations of the Northern Lights to a bus journey musing on the life of Stephen Lawrence, GDIF has been hugely on form in recent years as the largely free festival of street theatre – which has increasingly embraced spectacular installations post-pandemic – has drifted into a late summer slot. So late, in fact, that we don't have a line up or official dates yet. But expect it to be late August into early September, and also bloody spectacular.
