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SHUCKED is coming to London... outdoors?! | Summer 2025 musical at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
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Mickie Jo
I join you today to discuss the important and hard hitting topic of Korn. Oh my God. Hey, welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel. Or hello to you if you are listening on podcast platforms. My name is Mickie Jo and I am obsessed with all things theatre. I'm a professional theatre critic here on social media as well as a pundit, a content creator and heck, I'll say it, a theatre fan. And I am in a good mood today because we are going to be discussing the UK Arrival, the UK premiere of one of my favorite new musicals from the last few years. I first saw it on Broadway in March of 2020. I liked it so much I went back to see it again on my next trip. We are referring to the hilarious original musical Shucked all about. You heard me correctly, Korn. Shucked is going to be getting its UK premiere in London this summer at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, which is an outdoor amphitheater. It also happens to be one of my favorite theatres in the entire world. It has a unique magic and it's one of those theatres that I think everyone has to visit at least once in their lifetime. If you are planning a summer trip to London, you have to see something at Regent's Park. It's the law, the theatrical. Listen, I don't make the rules, I just enforce them. Online now, Shucked heading there for a very limited run. I'll tell you more of the details momentarily, rather than transferring straight to a commercial West End theatre for an open ended run, or at least a longer limited run, is a little bit of a surprise. But at the same time it isn't. Because while it was initially reported that Shucked was being brought to the West End by Sir Cameron Mackintosh and would end up in one of his theatres, one of the Delfonte Mackintosh theatres, of which there are the Noel Coward, the Wyndhams, the Gielgud, the Sondheim as well as some more. Director Jack O'Brien subsequently gave an interview where he revealed that Regents Park Open Air Theatre would be where it would be receiving its premiere. And he rightly noted how exciting that was. Sure enough, in January of this year, Regent's Park's new Artistic Director, Drew McHoney confirmed their thrilling new season which commences with Shucked. So here are all of the corn, juicy details. Is corn juice a thing I'm led to believe by the Korn kid? That Korn in fact has got the juice. So I assume, I assume that tracks. Now, if you enjoyed this one and you want to stay up to date with all of the theatrical news happening worldwide, both on Broadway and in the West. Make sure you are following me or subscribed wherever you are, seeing my face or hearing my voice with the notifications turned on so you don't miss any upcoming content, including later this year when I will of course be reporting on Shucked and bringing you my full review of the London production. As always, make sure to comment down below with your thoughts about this exciting theatre news, as well as the newly announced cast, which we will also be talking about in today's video. But before then, let's talk about everything we know so far about Shucked coming to London. So first up, let me give you a non spoiler overview of the musical Shucked, its plot, the vibes, what the music is like, as well as a little bit of its history. So Shucked, like I told you, is a musical about Korn. The marketing makes that abundantly clear. I have always had a suspicion that the title is a play on Wicked in the same way that the starkid musical Twisted is a take on that, but that has never officially been confirmed. In any case, Shucked was seen on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre between spring of 2023 and the very beginning of 2020 24, when it closed in January ahead of the launch of a North American tour and promises of further global productions. At the time of its closing, it was revealed that the already announced London production would be pushed back a little further, though in truth it is arriving earlier than it was stated that it would. So initially they said the West End production would be coming in 2024. Evidently that did not happen. During the press release put out at the time of the Broadway productions closing, they said it would be coming in winter 2025. In fact, we're getting it in late spring, early summer, so we're winning. The US tour continues to travel around North America and an Australian production is coming in 2026. There are also plans, I believe, for a feature film adaptation, which I found a little bit surprising simply because this is a musical really in its infancy and as we've seen from shows like Wicked and Even in the Heights and Tick Tick Boom, it can take a very long time for a show to actually get a feature film adaptation. Chicago is another one took years. Now the show features a bonafide country music score by bonafide country music songwriters Brandi Cl, Shane McEnally, as well as a hysterically funny book packed full of puns by the hilarious Robert Horn. I like to refer to this show's material by saying that it combines a knee slapping score with a thigh slapping script. The jokes are legitimately very funny and the music is legitimately great country music. And that is a big part of why I think this show is going to hit so well with a British audience. Because we have a deceptive love for country music. Country music is very big over here. There are big UK country music festivals where big acts from the US travel over. We also love stupid ridiculous puns and jokes. Look at pantomime humor for crying out loud. And there is a character in this show who delivers the bulk of those puns, whose name is Peanut, who functionally within the narrative behaves not unlike a pantomime character, very much like a buttons or even a pantomime dame. But on the subject of the plot, we are introduced to it by two storytellers who transport us to a very small town encircled by walls of corn. Nobody ever leaves this town. They have everything they need, namely corn. It's a huge deal. But when something goes wrong with the corn on the day of a wedding between young sweethearts, Maisie like the corn and Bo like like a bow, she decides that she is going to venture where no resident of Cobb county has ever gone before, beyond the corn, and go and seek help. Despite warnings from everyone around her that it's not a good idea. This sets in motion a whole chain of events. A little familiar of the Music man, which is probably the closest show that this has a resemblance to. But we talk about friendship, we talk about love, and we talk an awful lot about K Theatre fans who have not yet seen this show. It's probably best known for the song independently owned, originally sung by the character of Lulu as portrayed on Broadway by Alex Newell, who gave a stellar vocal performance. Got mid show standing ovations on both of the occasions that I saw it. It's a great song and it was a great performance, but it is just one component of this really wonderful and heartwarming show. I would characterize it as the funniest new musical I think we have seen since the likes of the Book of Mormon. Tonally it is not dissimilar, but the comedy has a much less mean spirited. It's more sweet and heartwarming with silliness, but it's really going to make you laugh which is why it's so exciting that we're going to get to see it here in London. But why is it arriving a little later than we expected and under slightly different circumstances? So I'm reading from the Watson Stage article about the initial announcement, which came on 7 June 2023, which would have been right around the 2023 Tony Awards. And it was confirmed that Broadway hit Shucked would open in the west end in 2024. The piece opened on Broadway in March and it will now be hosted at a Cameron Mackintosh venue in London. Spoiler alert. That is not what transpired, but at the time it was understood that that was what was going to happen. And in a prepared statement, Sir Cameron McIntosh said, I'm delighted to confirm that London is going to get Shucked in one of my theatres next year. That would have been 2024. Shucked is that rarity, a completely original musical and the funniest show since the Book of Mormon. I concur with a terrifically tuneful, rollicking country and western score. It snuck up on Broadway and is proving to be the most talked about hit of the season. The corn at the heart of Shucked will have you husky with limitless laughter. I don't believe that he came up with that pun himself. I mean, it's possible, but I'm dubious about that one. And they went on to say that casting, the exact theatre ticketing information and other details would be announced in the coming months. Spoiler alert. They won't. Or at least not in the way that it was originally planned. And to sidestep for a moment, we are seeing this trend more and more where productions are announced and anticipated productions are announced, but they are not announced with a particular venue or with particular dates, and it makes it harder to get excited about them because we've been burned one too many times and there is nothing worse than burnt corn. I'm thinking of Jagged Little Pill, which is another one that officially confirmed it was coming to the West End years ago and we still haven't seen it since. And I know that a pandemic has happened and I know there are a lot of other factors which go into the delays of these productions and the cancellations of these productions, but it has just been radio silent. Anyway, like I said, by the time that the show's Broadway closure rolled around, another press release was put out suggesting that the London production would in fact be arriving in winter 2025. I don't think anyone really picked this out because it was only distributed by the Broadway pr, and so, you know, the Broadway outlets weren't as interested in running a story about delays to the London production because that wasn't really their focus. In any case, that kind of slipped under the radar But I was assuming that would still be with an attachment to a Delfonte Mackintosh Theatre. But even then there was a scarcity. Because if we talk about the Delfont Macintosh Theatres, you have the Prince of Wales, the Book of Mormon is there. It has been there for more than a decade. It shows no signs of slowing down. We can't assume that it's going anywhere. Mamma Mia is running successfully at the Novello Theatre that's moved twice in its lifetime. We don't anticipate it moving again. We certainly don't anticipate it closing. It's just celebrated its 25th anniversary. It might even now be 26. So also not a viable theatre. There is the Guielgud, which has just become the home of Oliver, which seems to be built as a long running production that's going to stay there for a long time, possibly forever. Similarly, Les Mis next door at the Sondheim Theatre isn't going anywhere. Likewise, Hamilton has been running successfully at the Victoria Palace Theatre since it first arrived in the West End. We don't anticipate that going anywhere else, leaving us in contention, really. Only the Wyndham's Theatre, the Noel Coward Theatre and the Prince Edward, currently home to MJ the Musical and intimidatingly large, so really only viable for very marketable and commercially driven shows like a Disney musical or an mj. And the Wyndhams and the Noel Coward have both housed musicals recently, Next to Normal and Dear Evan Hansen as well as a handful more. But they are also often used as playhouses. And with so many new musicals having arrived in London over the last couple of years and, you know, run very successfully and showed no signs of slowing down. I'm thinking about Moulin Rouge and Back to the Future and more Mean Girls. It's become increasingly difficult for other new musicals to find a home. So it feels like what is happening here for a handful of really high profile musicals with big, big names is they are actually waiting in the wings because they would rather wait for the availability of a preferable theater. Many of them are waiting for the Adelphi and the Savoy, because these are two of the most attractive to new musicals, specifically to Broadway transfers as well, to do with their capacity, to do with the size of the stage, to do with the footfall that they get. So a show is left with two either they can wait for the theatre that they want or they can find somewhere else to go. And it seems that is what has happened because Shucked is not in fact going to be appearing at A Delfonte Mackintosh Theatre. At least not immediately. Anyway, it's going to be having a premiere at Regent's Park. Here is everything we know about that newly announced run. So here are the details. Shucked will be running at Regent's Park Open air Theatre between 10 May and 14 June, just over a month. This will represent the first piece of programming for Regent's Park's 2025 season and for those of you who are a little concerned about the weather, usually it's pretty nice in May and you can have a look on the website. They have a policy around if a performance does have to be cancelled, which they will really only do in extreme adverse weather conditions, then they will do their best to accommodate you at an alternative performance. But they have a no cancellation policy and I think the weather is also a big part of it. You get a pretty unique experience when you go and see outdoor theatre in the uk. Whether that's because there's a little bit of drizzle, whether that's because it's blistering sunshine, whether that's because there is a bird that decides to land on the stage and walk around, that's happened before. And if you think it could be a little bit of a surprising theatrical experience for you, think about how the performers feel. Speaking of which, they have recently announced the entire cast. We're going to talk through it now and why it is so exciting. No one is transferring from Broadway, but I should say this is the full US creative team led by director Jack O'Brien, so it seems as though it is going to be ostensibly the same production. I do believe that the set was already minimized slightly for the US touring production and it will to some extent have to be tailored for the open air theatre space. But it seems as though it's going to be the same shucks that you already know and love. But anyway, the cast, Monique Ash Palmer and Stephen Webb are going to be storytellers one and two. Monique Ash Palmer, perhaps best known for being one of the alternates in one of the recent casts of Six the Musical. She's very talented. Stephen Webb, hilariously funny, viral TikTok sensation currently starring in the Dolly Parton musical Here you come Again. Before that was an elder McKinley in the book of Mormon. He was hilarious in that role and his Broadway predecessor in this role, Grah Henson, of course was also an elder McKinley. Our romantic leads, meanwhile, are going to be played by Sophie McSheera, who has done a lot of stage work but is perhaps Best known for Downton Abbey and it's interesting, much of the stage work she has done has been in plays, though she does also have a credit for Annie in the West End. Opposite her is going to be Ben Joyce, best known for his performances as Mart McFly in Back to the Future and as Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys. I'm very excited to see him really dig his teeth into something comedic. We saw this kind of a comic charm when he was playing Marty McFly. I think he's going to be really great in this part. They are joined by the very versatile, talented and hilarious Matthew Sidon Young as Gordy and Keith Ramsay as Peanut. Both of those, I think are going to be very exciting. That's great casting. And Georgina Onwara is going to be playing Lulu. This is probably the role most people were wondering about. They were thinking, is Alex Newell going to transfer? But Georgina is such thrilling casting and if we weren't sure of that already, her performance of Independently Owned at the what's On Stage Awards this last weekend has certainly proved it. Here is a teensy little clip of her singing the show stopping number at the ceremony. Now, I've been talking about how talented Georgina is for a long, long time and how exceptional her instrument is as a vocalist. This is the most I've really heard her digging into a belty song and I am so excited to see her in this role. I think she is going to be brilliant. And as of yesterday, we now know who will be joining them in the ensemble which is also packed full of excited, talented names, including Jed Berry, also from the Book of Mormon, Taylor Halford, Ross Harmon, Jonathan Andrew Hume, Claudia Kariuki, Wonderful Claudia, Carrie KE from Six the Musical and Sister act and Ying Yu Lee, Tom Oliver, Glian Purcell Brown, Nathaniel Pannell, Rachel Rawlinson, Mia Shelbourne and Toyen Thomas Brown. Many performers who I've already had the joy of seeing before, some that I haven't and I'm excited to see them for the first time. But I think it's really exciting to see this dynamic and funny cast of talented British performers getting to truly put their own corny spin on this show. I think that's gonna make it feel really new and fresh and I'm hugely looking forward to it. And you know what makes it even easier to look forward to it? Tickets start from just £15. When was the last time that that happened? Listen, gone Are the Days new musical. Transferring from Broadway with the same creative team, starry West End cast, Brilliant Theatre, 15 pound tickets. Are you kidding me? This is a brilliant amphitheater that doesn't really have restricted view seating. Even the top price tickets are considerably more affordable than many other West End shows. Tickets for Shucked are pretty cheap, certainly cheaper. They were on Broadway. Have a look and go and grab some tickets to see this show. It does make me suspicious about this being the only life that Shucked is going to have. I think a five week stint with great casting with, you know, this Broadway life behind it and with really low cost ticketing, I think is an indication that this is more of a little preview premiere before plans to transfer it to a West End house. Maybe it's still going to be a Cameron McIntosh one. Maybe he's still involved. But they had the great idea to start it in Regent's park first. Heck, maybe that Broadway press release was talking about an already scheduled Delfonte Mackintosh run that is coming in winter 2025. But they're launching it first in Regent's Park. They're going to get the reviews there. They're going to kick it off in the summer with the sun shining down on the corn. It really works for this largely outdoors set show. This could be a really smart piece of producing from not only Regent's park, but they're producing partners on this, which include an interesting name that is Micha Harrison. I should add that in addition to Michael Harrison, this is also going to be presented in association with Mike Bosna, Jason Owen and AEG presents JayMarciano. But Michael Harrison is making big moves in the British and global theatre industries right now. He is the producer who has partnered with Andrew Lloyd Webber to create Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals, which gave us Starlight Express, which gave us the acclaimed, much talked about Sunset Boulevard revival and is also gearing up to bring us Evita this summer at the London Palladium. He is also involved in Titanique, is involved annually with the hugely successful London Palladium pantomimes. He was one of the producers behind the West End run of hello Dolly at the London Palladium. He is hugely influential in the industry right now. He has a pre existing relationship with Sir Cameron Mackintosh. I wouldn't be surprised if he's doing the same thing with this that he did with Oklahoma, when he was one of the producers to bring that to the uk where it had a little run at the Young Vic first. That's where it got reviewed, that's where it first arrived and then it transferred to the Wyndhams. Was that the plan all along? And is that indeed the plan for Shucked. I wouldn't be shocked. Yeah, that wasn't even intentional. Now, obviously, this isn't confirmed at this point, so if you desperately want to see Shucked, and I suggest that you do, go and see it at Regent's Park. It's also just a lovely experience, going to see a show at Regent's Park. But I'm saying it now, I do anticipate this maybe subsequently popping up like popcorn at the Wyndhams or the Noel Coward. But in the meantime, that is everything we know about the London run of Shucked. Of course, when it opens, I will be covering it. I'm actually planning to go and see the first preview, so maybe I'll bring you a little bit of a vlog, if that's something you want to see. But certainly, by the time it opens, just over a week later, I plan to bring you my full review of the London production and the London cast. Who knows, it may be a little more different than we're anticipating to the Broadway version that was seen at the Nederlander. In the meantime, make sure you're subscribed, make sure you're following me, make sure you've got those notifications turned on so you don't miss any of my upcoming theatrical content. Comment down below with all of your thoughts and feelings about Shucked. Who already has tickets? Who is planning to get tickets? Who's planning to come and see the first preview? Will I see you there? Let me know what you're thinking. And I hope that you have enjoyed today's theatre news recap. And I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey and a corny day. For 10 more seconds, I'm Minky Jo Theatre. Oh, my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day. Subscribe.