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Current Music: Corn Mix (Shucked, 2023 Broadway Cast)

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Corny Heaven | "Shucked" @ BiH/Pantages

Shucked (BiH/Pantages) You know what I think about Shucked, which (alas) closes at the Pantages today before continuing its tour?

I think a paper plane that doesn’t fly is just stationery.

I think I just passed a huge squirrel… which is odd because I don’t remember eating one.

I think I saw this day coming, because it was on my calendar.

and, I think that Shucked is one of the funniest musicals I’ve seen in ages, and you should go see it when it comes on tour near you. San Francisco folks, you’re next.

Now, let’s be a bit meta about things first, and ask from where do musicals and plays get their humor. If you said, “the writers”, you would be right. But some draw their humor from physical comedy and timing: Noises’ Off, and the whole “…Goes Wrong” series are in that vein. Shucked draws its humor from simple jokes, which come fast and furious. There’s a whole reddit thread that attempts to capture them. I suggest you read the thread, and I’m not going to try to repeat them, but I’ll choose one more to give you the sense: “it didn’t take a cow to smoke a joint to realize the stakes were high”. These are the sort of jokes that when a character says them, you can hear the ripple through the audience as the joke hits. OK, one more example: “As the personal trainer said to their lazy client, this isn’t working out”. OK, one more: “I was so poor if i wasn’t born a boy I would have had nothing to play with.”

Plot? Very corny. Literally. It takes place in Cob County, where life revolves around corn. The corn starts dying, so the big wedding is called off. There’s a big debate on why. Once of the characters decides to go to the big city — Tampa — to figure out why. She gravitates to a grifter podiatrist (who advertises as a corn doctor) to help the town, and bring him back. As they say, hijinks ensue.

The songs are fun and silly. My favorite song is still “Independently Owned” (Alex Newell killed with this song on the Tonys; the tour’s Lulu, Miki Abraham, did a spectacular job with it). Other songs are still great, in particular “Friends”, which has lines like “I have to call you fam’ly / But I get to call you friend”. But this is fun music. If you want sophistication, go find a remounting of a Sondheim musical. You can get a good sense of the show from the cast album.

In short: The 2024-2025 season at the Pantages goes out on a high note: the last three musicals, A Beautiful Noise, Some Like It Hot, and Shucked have been spectacular. I’m not sure next season can top it.

The tour cast is top notch, especially the leads. The two storytellers, Tyler Joseph Ellis and Maya Lagerstam, have a wonderful playful chemistry (and I remember Tyler from both She Loves Me at Actors Co-Op, and Passion at Boston Court). Miki Abraham’s Lulu hits it out of the park with an attitude and voice that could kill (although they are toned down from the OBC). Danielle Wade is spectacular as Maizy and has a wonderful voice. She needs to put out a country album. Jake Odmark had the right brawn and attitude for Beau. And, oh Mike Nappi was spectacular as Peanut. You think the crew would be used to his jokes, but his timing and delivery was so spot on it was like watching the Carol Burnett show when Tim Conway was wound up. You could see folks trying to hold back their laughs. The cast clearly enjoys this show and each other, and that joy comes across in the performance.

You may think this is a stupid show. You may think it is, to use the words of one of the ushers, “corny”. It may be. But you will laugh and you will have a good time, and for two hours and fifteen minutes, with intermission, you’ll forget about the clown show in DC. Although, as Peanut says, “Politicians are like diapers: Both should be changed often, and for the same reason”.

With that, one other thought: This isn’t really a stupid show. Simple, perhaps, but not stupid. It is actually subtly subversive. On the surface it is about corn and jokes, but it is really about family. It is about diversity and accepting people. It is about finding love wherever it is. It is about feminism, and how you shouldn’t underestimate women (one of the lines is “A wise woman once said something smarter than anything a man ever said.”). It is also not a family show — there are numerous jokes that are double entendres, that will have kids asking “why is that line funny”. Example: “I’m independently owned and liberated / And I think sleeping alone is underrated / Don’t need a man for flatteries / Got a corn cob and some batteries”

This is one of those shows that, if I had been able to see it earlier in the run, I would have tried to get tickets to see it again. I liked it that much.

Additionally: This show has no projects, and not a single glitter cannon. No significant special effects. If it wasn’t for the language, I think this would be popular in high schools. I do expect it to become a staple show in the regional and local theatre repertoire. I’ll certainly go see it.

Alas, we had to move our tickets because of our vacation to Hawaii. The last shows in Los Angeles are today. So go see the tour when it comes near you.: San Francisco (Sept. 9–Oct. 5, 2025); Portland OR (Oct. 28–Nov. 2, 2025); Seattle WA (Nov. 4–9, 2025); and back in Costa Mesa (Nov. 11–23, 2025). Hmm, perhaps I should get tickets for that :-).

Credits

Shucked. Book by Robert Horn. Music and Lyrics by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. Directed by Jack O’Brien. Choreographed by Sarah O’Gleby.

Cast: [underscores indicate “at our performance”; ~~strikeouts~~ indicate “not at our performance”; ↑ indicates “swung up”]: Miki Abraham Lulu; Tyler Joseph Ellis Storyteller 2; Maya Lagerstam Storyteller 1; Mike Nappi Peanut; Jake Odmark Beau; Quinn Vanantwerp Gordy; Danielle Wade Maizy; Eric Pinnick Grandpa, Ensemble; Kyle Sherman Tank, Ensemble; Zakiya Baptiste Ensemble; Cecily Dionne Davis Ensemble; Ryan Fitzgerald Ensemble; Jackson Goad Ensemble; Celeste Rose Ensemble; Chani Wereley Ensemble. Swings: ↑ Carly Caviglia Dance Captain; ↑ Sean Casey Flanagan, Nick Raynor Dance Captain; Mallorie Sievert.

Music Department (♯ indicates local): Jason Howland Music Supervisor; Strange Cranium Electronic Music Design; Nick Williams Music Director, Conductor, Keyboard; John Miller Music Coordinator; Jeff Theiss Assoc. Conductor, Keyboard, Guitar; Andy Poxon Guitars; Patrick Phalen IV Drums/Percussion; Marc Hogan Bass; ♯ Brian LaFontaine Guitar Sub; ♯ Eric Heinly Orchestra Contractor.

Production and Creative; Jack O’Brien Director; Sarah O’Gleby Choreographer; Scott Pask Scenic Design; Tilly Grimes Costume Design; Japhy Weideman Lighting Design; John Shivers Sound Design; Mia Neal Wig Design; Derek Kolluri Assoc. Director; Robin Masella Assoc. Choreographer; Michael J. Passaro Production Supervisor; Alan K. Knight Production Stage Manager; Lily Archambault Stage Manager; Sophia Shafiuzzaman Asst Stage Manager; Dhyana Colony Company Manager; Stephen Kopel CSA Casting; Juniper Street Productions Production Management; Arthouse Digital Advertising; RCI Theatricals General Manager; Bond Theatrical Tour Booking, Marketing, Publicity; Marathon Digital Social Media.

Administrivia

I am not a professional critic. I’m a cybersecurity professional, a roadgeek who does a highway site and a podcast about California Highways, and someone who loves live performance. I buy all my own tickets, unless explicitly noted otherwise. I do these writeups to share my thoughts on shows with my friends and the community. I encourage you to go to your local theatres and support them (ideally, by purchasing full price tickets, if you can afford to do so). We currently subscribe or have memberships at: Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre; Broadway in Hollywood/Pantages Theatre; Pasadena Playhouse; The Soraya, and 5-Star Theatricals. We’re looking for the right intimate theatre to subscribe at — it hasn’t been the same since Rep East died (it’s now The Main, and although it does a lot of theatre, it doesn’t have seasons or a resident company), and post-COVID, most 99-seaters aren’t back to doing seasons (or seasons we like). I used to do more detailed writeups; here’s my current approach.

Upcoming ♦ Theatre / ♣ Music / ◊ Other Live Performance – Next 90ish Days (⊕ indicates ticketing is pending).

September: ♦ Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish at The Soraya; ♦ Eureka Day at Pasadena Playhouse; ♦ One Man, Two Guvnors at A Noise Within. Possibles: Just Another Day at the Odyssey (simply so I can go up to Dan Lauria afterwards and ask if he’ll ever bring back Meeting of Minds, which stopped when he went off to do Lombardi many years ago); Real Women Have Curves at Kentwood Players.
October: ♣ Fly Me to the Moon at The Soraya; ♦ Hairspray at 5-Star Theatricals; ♦ ha ha ha ha ha ha at Pasadena Playhouse
November: ♦ Jaja’s African Hair Braiding at CTG/Taper; ♦ Paranormal Activity at CTG/Ahmanson; ♦ Suffs at BIH/Pantages;
December: ◊ ACSAC Conference; ♣ Nochebuena: A Christmas Spectacular at The Soraya; ♦ Stereophonic at BIH/Pantages;

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along the Road as Corny Heaven | "Shucked" @ BiH/Pantages by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link to the left. You can sign in with your LJ, DW, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. Note: Subsequent changes made to the post on the blog are not propagated by the SNAP Crossposter; please visit the original post to see the latest version. P.S.: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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roadgeeking

Headlines About California Highways – August 2025

Two months into retirement. I may be starting to get the hang of this. I’m working on podcast episodes, and doing deep dives into areas as a result of that. However, given that I just did a highway page update, you won’t be seeing the results of some of those deep dives until the next round of updates (and that includes the dives related to Route 9 and Route 10). I also got a chance to go visit the LA Metro Archives, will will results in yet another podcast bonus episode.

Speaking of the podcast: We’re experimenting with a new approach to recording, as FCC was sounding increasingly muddled. We started using new recording software (Zencaster) for the bonus episode posted in August. It seems to be better, although I still need to adjust microphone distance. That’s what bonus episodes are for—a place to experiment a little to improve the podcast, while giving some breathing space to write the next batch of episodes. I have two written related to Route 8, and when I get back from vacation I’ll be writing the episodes related to Route 9 and Route 10, and starting the deep dive for Route 11 (which will likely include I-110 as well). The Route 8 episodes will go over all things Route 8 and US 80, both within San Diego and Point Loma (Ep. 4.01) and from La Mesa to the Arizona border, with a discussion of the Imperial Highway (Ep. 4.02). But first, we’ll have one more bonus episode featuring an interview with the LA Metro archivist. That’ll be recorded when I get back, and drop before the end of September.

It looks like the regular audience is between 60-70 folks, and I’d love to get that number up. You can help. Please tell your friends about the podcast, “like”, “♥”, or “favorite” it, and give it a rating in your favorite podcatcher. Share the podcast on Facebook groups, and in your Bluesky and Mastodon communities. For those that hear the early episodes, the sound quality of the episodes does get better — we were learning. If you know sound editing, feel free to give me advice (I use Audacity to edit). As always, you can keep up with the show at the podcast’s forever home at https://www.caroutebyroute.org , the show’s page on Spotify for Creators, or you can subscribe through your favorite podcatching app or via the RSS feeds (CARxR, Spotify for Creators) . The following episode has been posted this month:

CA RxR 3.14: Freeway Exit (Bonus). Bonus Episode 3.14 continues our inter-season gap between Seasons 3 and 4. This episode we’re sharing an episode of the excellent Freeway Exit podcast from KPBS San Diego. Freeway Exit, hosted by Andrew Bowen, is an exploration of San Diego’s freeways, their costs, and how they can be part of the solution. It covers the forgotten history of the urban freeway network, and how decades after that network was finished, some communities are still working to heal the wounds that freeways left behind. The episode we’ve chosen to share focuses on the Cabrillo Freeway, Route 163, through Balboa Park, and explores the question: Is it time to remove the freeway? After the episode, we have a discussion with Andrew about the podcast, the the San Diego freeway system, and how highways fit into the bigger picture. Oh, and we discover what he is doing next with the podcast, and try to convince him to do one on the Route 710 gap. This episode is also a test of using Zencaster to record the podcast. Hopefully it sounds better, and next time I’ll move my microphone a bit further back. Zencaster also gives us the ability to have transcripts. Would folks want them included in the post? One more bonus episode is in the works: An interview with the LA Metro Archivist. We’ll pick up in the October with Season 4, which will cover Route 8 through Route 14. PS: Support KPBS, or your local PBS/NPR Station (Spotify for Podcasters)

As a reminder: One of the sources for the highway page updates (and the raison d’etre for for this post) are headlines about California Highways that I’ve seen over the last month. I collect them in this post, which serves as fodder for the updates to my California Highways site, and so there are also other pages and things I’ve seen that I wanted to remember for the site updates. Lastly, the post also includes some things that I think would be of peripheral interest to my ~~highway-obsessed~~ highway-interested readers.

Well, you should now be up to date. Here are the headlines that I found about California’s highways for August.

Key

[Ħ Historical information | ＄ Paywalls, ＄＄ really obnoxious paywalls, and ∅ other annoying restrictions. I’m no longer going to list the paper names, as I’m including them in the headlines now. Note: For ＄ paywalls, sometimes the only way is incognito mode, grabbing the text before the paywall shows, and pasting into an editor. See this article for more tips on bypassing paywalls. ☊ indicates an primarily audio article. ↈ indicates a primarily video article. ]

Highway Headlines

SR-99 In Northern Madera County EIR/EA (FB/Caltrans District 6). Madera County: Caltrans would like the public’s input on a project on SR-99 in northern Madera County. The project is still years away but we have set up two public meetings. The first is a virtual meeting on Tuesday, August 19th starting at 6:00 pm. The other is being held at Fairmead Elementary on Thursday, August 21st, starting at 6:30 pm. Hopefully you can attend because we want to hear from you.
＄ Marin agency approves contracts for Highway 101 bus lane project (Marin I-J). A plan to construct a part-time transit-only lane on a congested stretch of Highway 101 between Novato and San Rafael is gaining momentum. The board governing the Transportation Authority of Marin has approved contracts to perform engineering and environmental review of the project on an approximately 10-mile southbound segment of the freeway. Approvals include a $910,000 contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc., which will lead the planning, and $200,000 with Caltrans, which owns the highway property and will provide oversight. The contracts were approved at the July 24 board meeting. “The addition of part-time transit lanes is a forward-thinking initiative to help speed up bus travel on Highway 101,” said Nancy Whelan, general manager of Marin Transit, the county’s local fixed-route bus provider. The project area is between De Long Avenue in Novato and North San Pedro Road in northern San Rafael. The estimated $7 million project would create a lane on the highway shoulder and merging lanes, allowing public buses to bypass traffic jams, shaving minutes off commute times.
＄ Marin highway repair projects get $47M from state (Marin I-J). Caltrans has been awarded more than $47 million in state funding to advance three repair projects at critical passages on highways in Marin County. The largest allocation is a $45 million award to support the rehabilitation of the Petaluma River Bridge on Highway 37 on the outskirts of Novato. Another $1.3 million will go toward a slope repair on a storm-damaged section of Highway 1 in the Woodville area of western Marin. A $920,000 allocation will pay for another slide repair along Highway 101 near Marin City. The funding comes from the State Highway Operation and Protection Program, which is supported with a mix of revenue from Senate Bill 1 gas tax funds and federal sources.
＄ Richmond bridge bike path plan gets key support (Marin I-J). A plan to convert the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge bike path to a part-time feature has received a recommendation of approval, with conditions. A public hearing set for Thursday could mark the conclusion of a series of meetings on what to do with the route, which is on the westbound upper deck. Caltrans, which owns the bridge, and the Bay Area Toll Authority, which funds the operations and maintenance of the span through toll revenue, want to limit path access to the period from 2 p.m. Thursdays to 11 p.m. Sundays. For the remainder of the week, the moveable barrier would be pushed to the side, enabling the shoulder to be used as a vehicle breakdown and emergency lane during heavy commuting hours. It would also give the agencies time to study the potential use of the shoulder as a part-time commuter lane for carpools and transit. In its recommendation, the staff of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, or BCDC, said the state agency is charged with ensuring “maximum feasible public access consistent with the project,” and the three-year pilot project achieves that.
Interstate 80 express toll lanes could officially launch in Solano County before year’s end (CBS Sacramento). On at least one stretch of Interstate 80, Sacramento area drivers are seeing fewer orange cones. It’s good news for those used to construction-related traffic delays up and down the corridor. A Caltrans project in its final stages is set to launch new FasTrak express lanes on I-80 in both directions from Vacaville’s 505 interchange to Fairfield, as soon as December. In late June, Caltrans wrapped up construction of a brand new express lane in Vacaville that stretches down to Fairfield, where an existing HOV lane was converted to an express lane. The project took about a year and a half to complete.
All Hail the Humble Speed Hump, the Best Cheap Traffic-Safety Fix (Bloomberg). You can find lots of things on the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts: an abundance of bike lanes, shops hawking Harvard merch, and empty Sam Adams bottles. But you won’t find the raised, rounded protrusions of asphalt that are widespread throughout many other municipalities. “We’ve never done speed humps in Cambridge,” said Brooke McKenna, the city’s transportation commissioner. “We’ve gotten so many requests, and we’ve always said, ‘I’m going to refer you to our traffic calming program.’” There, staff consider full-fledged roadway overhauls, which can take years to implement.
Lake Tahoe Construction Project Updates (Caltrans). Caltrans is advising motorists of various lane closures next week due to multiple construction projects in the Lake Tahoe region. Along State Route 28 (SR 28) in Placer County, drainage and electrical work continues in preparation for a $31.7 million Caltrans pavement project. In Tahoe City along SR 28, work is scheduled around the clock from Sunday, August 3 at 7 p.m. through Friday, August 8 at 7 a.m. between Mackinaw Road and Jackpine Street. The paving portion of this project in Tahoe City is scheduled to begin Sunday evening, August 10. Specific locations will be announced Friday, August 8. Fanny Bridge in Tahoe City will be closed to traffic Monday, August 4 through Friday, August 8 from 7 p.m. until 9 a.m. in preparation of the Fanny Bridge Replacement Project.
Caltrans may remove shoulder parking along State Route 79 in Descanso (Fox 5 San Diego). Business owners in the small community of Descanso are pushing back against a proposed plan from Caltrans that would remove shoulder parking along State Route 79, spaces they say are critical for their businesses survival. Caltrans says the move is part of an effort to improve safety for drivers and pedestrians. But for restaurant and shop owners, the plan could mean losing customers. “Descanso means a place of rest, and that’s kind of what it is to me,” said Brett Cooker, owner of the local restaurant Descanso Junction. “It’s a very peaceful area, great people, great community
Major East Bay Highway To Close For 55 Hours (Fremont, CA Patch). The northbound side of Interstate 680 at the Mission San Jose (State Route 238) overpass in Fremont will be closed for 55 hours for critical bridge and pavement repair work, and Caltrans is warning drivers to be prepared for delays. The closures will affect Interstate 680’s northbound lanes starting Friday at 8 p.m., when lane reductions will begin. At 10 p.m., work is scheduled to start, and the northbound side of Interstate 680 will be fully closed. The work is scheduled to last until Monday at 5 a.m., according to Caltrans.

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Code deploy happening shortly

Per the dw_news post regarding the MS/TN blocks, we are doing a small code push shortly in order to get the code live. As per usual, please let us know if you see anything wonky.

There is some code cleanup we've been doing that is going out with this push but I don't think there is any new/reworked functionality, so it should be pretty invisible if all goes well.

Mississippi site block, plus a small restriction on Tennessee new accounts

A reminder to everyone that starting tomorrow, we are being forced to block access to any IP address that geolocates to the state of Mississippi for legal reasons while we and Netchoice continue fighting the law in court. People whose IP addresses geolocate to Mississippi will only be able to access a page that explains the issue and lets them know that we'll be back to offer them service as soon as the legal risk to us is less existential.

The block page will include the apology but I'll repeat it here: we don't do geolocation ourselves, so we're limited to the geolocation ability of our network provider. Our anti-spam geolocation blocks have shown us that their geolocation database has a number of mistakes in it. If one of your friends who doesn't live in Mississippi gets the block message, there is nothing we can do on our end to adjust the block, because we don't control it. The only way to fix a mistaken block is to change your IP address to one that doesn't register as being in Mississippi, either by disconnecting your internet connection and reconnecting it (if you don't have a static IP address) or using a VPN.

In related news, the judge in our challenge to Tennessee's social media age verification, parental consent, and parental surveillance law (which we are also part of the fight against!) ruled last month that we had not met the threshold for a temporary injunction preventing the state from enforcing the law while the court case proceeds.

The Tennesee law is less onerous than the Mississippi law and the fines for violating it are slightly less ruinous (slightly), but it's still a risk to us. While the fight goes on, we've decided to prevent any new account signups from anyone under 18 in Tennessee to protect ourselves against risk. We do not need to block access from the whole state: this only applies to new account creation.

Because we don't do any geolocation on our users and our network provider's geolocation services only apply to blocking access to the site entirely, the way we're implementing this is a new mandatory question on the account creation form asking if you live in Tennessee. If you do, you'll be unable to register an account if you're under 18, not just the under 13 restriction mandated by COPPA. Like the restrictions on the state of Mississippi, we absolutely hate having to do this, we're sorry, and we hope we'll be able to undo it as soon as possible.

Finally, I'd like to thank every one of you who's commented with a message of support for this fight or who's bought paid time to help keep us running. The fact we're entirely user-supported and you all genuinely understand why this fight is so important for everyone is a huge part of why we can continue to do this work. I've also sent a lot of your comments to the lawyers who are fighting the actual battles in court, and they find your wholehearted support just as encouraging and motivating as I do. Thank you all once again for being the best users any social media site could ever hope for. You make me proud and even more determined to yell at state attorneys general on your behalf.