Interview: Danielle Wade Talks Bringing SHUCKED the Musical to Canada

The time is finally upon us! After a successful Broadway run and almost a year and a half touring the United States, the musical SHUCKED Is coming to Canada!

For the unacquainted, SHUCKED is a musical about corn. No, really. It tells the story of a farm girl named Maizy who has lived a sheltered life in the remote, corn-focused town of Cob County. When the corn mysteriously starts die – putting the livelihood of the whole town at risk, Maizy takes it upon herself to venture out into the world to find a solution to their problem. Suddenly, Maizy and Cob County have been connected to a world they never new and nothing will ever be the same. Filled to the brim with humour and heart, this musical is a delight.

Next week, the North American tour begins performances at Mirvish’s Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto. BroadwayWorld had the opportunity to catch up with Danielle Wade, who plays Maizy and who also happens to be Canadian! We talk all things corn, her tour family, and making her grand return to Canada with this special show.

BroadwayWorld: Hi Danielle! I'm so excited to be welcoming you back to Toronto, and to be welcoming Shucked to Canada. I don't mean to be presumptuous, but as a Canadian, has this stop been circled on your calendar?

Danielle Wade: Oh, the entire time. I've been waiting. Everybody, like, every single company member's like, we're almost home! We're almost home!

BWW: Oh I love that. Is anyone else Canadian? Or are they just so excited for you?

DW: No one else is Canadian, they're all just very excited, but a couple people have worked in Toronto. One of our other principals made his Jersey Boys debut there, so he's glad to be back as well.

BWW: Aw amazing! I had the chance to see SHUCKED On Broadway a few years ago and I loved it. The two things that have stuck with me from when I saw it, were the heart of it and the just absolute rapid fire of jokes - and how every single one landed. It was astounding! I've never seen anything quite like that!

DW: It's wild, right?

BWW: Yeah, just so fun. And I guess my question for you is, has your appreciation for puns and dad jokes increased or decreased since you started with this show (laughs)?

DW: That's very funny. I definitely think it's increased (laughs). I've always been a fan. I feel… honestly, there's something very Canadian about the sense of humour of it all. You know, the dry, like just plain old delivery of a silly phrase. Something about that is very Canadian and very ‘Corner Gas’ to me.

BWW: I know exactly what you mean, and I think this audience is really going to appreciate it! How fun is it to do this show?

DW: Oh my god, it's the most fun I've ever had. Every night. I mean, you're just making people laugh, hopefully, and then by the end of the show, you think, oh, maybe they've been along with us for the ride the whole time, and maybe they'll cry at the corn show for one second.

BWW: I love that. I’m sure they will! What do you want the Toronto audiences to take away from this show the most? And here’s a challenge for you: What are 5 words you think of when you think of this show?

DW: I think like you said before, the heart of it all is the most impressive part to me. And I think if they take that away then we've done our jobs very well. It’s such a charming musical. It's not pretending to be anything that it's not, it's very self-aware. As for my five words … One of them would have to be Peanut, for sure.

BWW: A very fun character in the show.

DW: Yes, yes, yes.

BWW: I love that. Not to give you ideas, but if another word was corn, I think that would be fair.

DW: Yeah, that seems appropriate (laughs). Another would be “silly” and we said “heart”… Heart, Peanut, Corn, Silly … Family.

BWW: Family! Oh, I love that! Amazing! I think that's perfect. So this is certainly not your first rodeo when it comes to touring. You toured with MEAN GIRLS and I believe you toured with THE WIZARD OF OZ after the sit down in Toronto right?

DW: Sure did! Forever ago! 2013? The last full big adventure I did in Toronto was the TV show (Reality Competition show ‘Over the Rainbow’) into the Toronto run at the Mirvish.

BWW: I watched that TV show! I remember it well! I remember shouting at my TV for them to let you all sing Musical Theatre songs!

DW: Right? Why were we singing Call Me Maybe? (Laughs)

BWW: Well, I mean, it is a bop! I'm curious to hear about what in this tour experiences is similar to your past ones and what’s different?

DW: There's something very special about this show, that it really is a community on and off stage. And I think that is something that's been different from some other tours that I've been on - that we do spend all our time together because we want to, not because we have to (laughs).

BWW: I love that, and that's nice, because I imagine you’ve had some long, cold, travel days.

DW: We've hit 3 blizzards in the last month, so everyone's travel day exhaustion is at a new all-time high! But everyone gets along, and we're trying to make the most of it.

BWW: And then you get to bring the sunshine to the stage!

DW: Yes that’s exactly it!

BWW: You’ve been on this tour for a long time, and obviously art and life sometimes enmesh with one another…. So I just have to ask…What is your relationship with corn at this point?

DW: (Laughs) Honestly, I still love it. I think I've had more corn memorabilia than I've ever needed in my life, but I'm not mad about it.

BWW: Do you think in 10 or 20 years down the road, that you will be able to look at corn on the cobb without thinking about this show?

DW: ...Without singing 'it's the same going in, coming out', as I think about it? No, I don't think I ever will. That’s gonna stick with me for the rest of time (laughs).

BWW: Amazing.

DW: Honestly, it's it's been such a wonderful part of my life at this point that I have no bad memories from the corn. I’m not scarred by it (laughs).

BWW: This is really good cast and I'm so excited to see you all. I imagine you had the chance to see the Broadway cast, and obviously you have had some cast mates that have departed and new people who have come into the touring production. Can you tell me a little bit about seeing some of these roles portrayed by different people, and, getting to play with different people throughout the time you've been doing it?

DW: I saw the show on Broadway, from what I remember, 5 times. I was absolutely obsessed with it. And one of the times was my Bachelorette party. I made all the people in my party come see ‘the corn musical’ – which is really silly now that I think about it later (laughs). I loved it so much, and I was so impressed with everyone. I really loved Caroline (Innerbichler), who played Maizy on Broadway. I was just so impressed by her and what she made. It was so clear that she had really thought about what she was creating when she made that part, and I wanted to play it because of her.

We have two of the company members from New York that are now playing parts full-time, so that's been fun to watch them make their parts their own. And two of the principal company members have since left and we started with new people. The cool part of the show is it's very much a personality piece. You bring a lot of yourself to it, so if you change the actor, the show changes very drastically. So we're all kind of experiencing it as a new entity every time someone new plays the part. It's not like a plug-and-play kind of show, if that makes sense.

BWW: And that’s why it’s so fun to see shows more than once! Was there anything else that, you wanted to share with Toronto audiences, or, anything in particular you're looking forward to in your grand return to Canada?

DW: (Laughs) Yes! My grand return! It does feel wild. I'm really glad that it's this show that I'm coming back with. There's something very heartwarming and sweet about the whole thing - to come back with a show that's just about family. It’s about adventuring out of your small town to a big city, and then coming back and realizing that, you know, you always belonged there … and the other place, too ... but that’s always home.

BWW: That’s beautiful. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat. We cannot wait to see the show!

DW: Thank you!

SHUCKED begins performances at the Princess of Wales Theatre on March 3rd and continues until April 5th.

PHOTO CREDIT: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman