Take a semi-neurotic New York comedy writer, add two Nashville country music stars, sprinkle in a generous helping of jokes and what do you get? The recipe for the hilariously corny musical, “Shucked,” set to turn Bass Concert Hall on its ear Nov. 12 - 17.
“We call it corny chaos,” Danielle Wade, who plays Maizy, the musical’s main character, said. “It’s about a tiny town called Cobb County that’s completely surrounded by corn. The show starts on my wedding day, and we have to call the wedding off right in the middle of it because the corn starts to die.”
The dying corn — upon which the entire isolated community of Cobb County is built — propels Maizy to leave the only place she’s ever known to go out and find help.
“I have a huge adventure,” Wade said. “I bring a friend back with me, a corn doctor if you will, and it causes chaos.”
Wade’s own path to the stage started in Ontario, Canada, where she grew up. She started in high school by auditioning for a musical into which she was not cast. For the whole of the next year, Wade practiced to audition for the next musical, “Grease,” which became her first experience on stage. Her big break came afterward, however, with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s BBC talent show, “Over the Rainbow.” Webber was seeking the perfect Dorothy to play in “The Wizard of Oz” in London’s West End. Through the process of the reality show competition, Webber chose Wade for the role.
Since then, she has starred on Broadway as Cady in the “Mean Girls” musical, as Nellie Forbush in “South Pacific” and now, she returns with another kind of yellow road, this one paved with corn. As for Maizy, Wade said that she’s a character after her own heart.
“Maizy may be the closest I’ve ever played on stage to myself,” Wade said. “A quirky girl who is painfully trusting and open hearted. She’s very brave. I like to think that as I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten more brave.”
Wade’s own courage and tenacity brings a certain humor and pluck to the role of Maizy, who braves the unknown in her effort to save her home.
“I think the beautiful thing about Shucked is that it’s two hours of a completely different life,” Wade said. “There’s 180 jokes. If we’ve done our job then you’ll laugh 180 times. It’s full of heart. By the end, you might have a tear or two. It’s important to have an escape sometimes. To just exist. You don’t have to be anything else.”
“Shucked” opens at Bass Concert Hall Tuesday, Nov. 12 and will run Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Tickets start at $30 and are available at texasperformingarts. org and BroadwayinAustin. com, by phone at (512) 477-1444 or from the Texas Performing Arts ticket office at Bass Concert Hall.
“I hope people come and watch the show. Everyone needs an escape sometimes,” Wade said, “And If we can provide that for you, then we’ve done our jobs.”
