MTI Acquires Licensing Rights for SHUCKED

On National Corn on the Cob Day, theatrical licensor Music Theatre International announces the acquisition of Shucked. Featuring a book by Tony Award winner Robert Horn (Tootsie), and a score by the Grammy® Award-winning songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, this corn-fed, corn-bred American musical is sure to satisfy your appetite for great musical theatre.

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 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 has turned Broadway on its ear and offers a kernel of hope for our divided nation.

Shucked ran on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre, where it began previews on March 8, 2023 and opened on April 4. The production received nine Tony Award nominations including Best Musical with Alex Newell winning Best Featured Actor for their performance.

Shucked is currently playing a limited engagement in London at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre to extremely positive reviews. The show is also on a National Tour in the US, with ticket-buying information here. 

The New Yorker praised the show as “A fun night out! The funky, rootsy score has the audience erupting into show-pausing cheers with memorable melodies and clever lyrics,” while The New York Post proclaimed, “With a tuneful country score by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally and superb book by Robert Horn, Shucked is just so damn funny the audience sits in a state of perpetual giggle.”  

Rober Horn shared, “There is never not a time in history where laughter was not the best medicine, other than medicine. This show was created from a deep love of community and family. Its non-stop humor and pathos provide a canvas for a uniquely comical, emotional journey and a brilliant country inspired score that will rip both the roof off and your heart out. Rich with fun characters, at its heart this a simple, charming fable that has a universal message of acceptance and change, of opening your hearts to people who are different than you.  Like the very artform, Shucked is a communal experience…one with more laughs per minute than seems humanly possible. It’s popularity and ability to delight on Broadway, across the U.S., and on the West End, has proven it’s a special musical which was as much fun for us to write as it is for an audience to watch.  As with all my other shows, I know MTI is the perfect partner to harvest the joy that is Shucked from across the country to around the world!” 

“It is impossible not to be in awe of how funny Shucked is— That goes without saying. But the show’s perfect mixture of humor and heart, thanks to the script and incredible score, is what makes Shucked timeless and special. With so many great and varied roles, this is a perfect show for groups of all sizes and levels. Once they catch their breath, audiences will be thanking the performers for an incredible night of theatre,” said Drew Cohen, President and CEO of MTI. 

Additional licensing announcements from MTI about Shucked will be forthcoming, but in the meantime, information can be found here.

About Music Theatre International

Music Theatre International (MTI) is one of the world's leading theatrical licensing agencies, granting theatres from around the world the rights to perform the greatest selection of musicals from Broadway and beyond. Founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker, MTI is a driving force in advancing musical theatre as a vibrant and engaging art form.

MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and book writers of these musicals to provide official scripts, musical materials and dynamic theatrical resources to over 100,000 professional, community and school theatres in the US and in over 150 countries worldwide.

MTI is particularly dedicated to educational theatre, and has created special collections to meet the needs of various types of performers and audiences. MTI’s Broadway Junior® shows are 30- and 60-minute musicals for performance by elementary and middle school-aged performers, while MTI’s School Editions are musicals annotated for performance by high school students.