NEW YORK, NY.- Shucked, a musical comedy fueled by corn puns and country music, will end its run at Broadways Nederlander Theater on Jan. 14.
The shows lead producers, Mike Bosner and Jason Owen, are not calling the step a closing, apparently because they are hoping that they will find another theater at which the show might continue its run. But the current Broadway season is shaping up to be fairly robust, and it is unclear if there will be an empty theater available for it.
Shucked is vacating its theater as its grosses have remained consistently middling. Theater owners make money both by charging rent to producers and by getting a percentage of the box office, and if the Nederlander Organization can find a higher-grossing tenant, it will make more money. (A leading candidate to take over the theater: a revival of Tommy that was well-reviewed and sold strongly at Chicagos Goodman Theater.)
With a score by two successful Nashville-based songwriters, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, Shucked began previews March 8 and opened April 4. It was nominated for nine Tony Awards and won one, for Alex Newell as best featured actor in a musical.
The musical, directed by Jack OBrien and with a book by Robert Horn, was capitalized for up to $16 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission; it has not yet recouped those costs. Its grosses have been modest for a musical during the week that ended Oct. 8, it grossed $751,829, with 85% of its seats occupied. Country singer Reba McEntire voiced new advertising for the show and has been talking it up, and the shows producing team believe that her support is helping to promote sales.
A North American tour of Shucked was announced Tuesday, with plans to kick off next fall in Providence, Rhode Island. And Thursday, the shows producers said that they expect international productions to open in London in 2025 and in Sydney in 2026.
This article originally appeared in
The New York Times.