Nashville music stars and frequent collaborators Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally grew up a long way from Broadway. Clark caught the musical-theater bug at an early age, and even played the role of Marian Paroo’s piano student Amaryllis in a community production of The Music Man in her native Morton, Washington, but she later got distracted by competitive sports. McAnally, who spent his youth in a small Texas town, knew and loved some theater-based standards—among them, Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns”—but admits, “I didn’t know they came from musicals.”
Nonetheless, after years as two of the hottest and busiest talents, they are channeling their creative gifts into Shucked, a new musical featuring a book by Robert Horn, a Tony Award winner for his Tootsie libretto. Poised to begin previews March 8 and open April 4 at the Nederlander Theatre, the production is directed by the versatile and venerable Jack O’ Brien, the owner of three Tonys.
In their usual genre, Clark and McAnally are accustomed to keeping distinguished company. Celebrated for their work with six-time Grammy Award winner Kacey Musgraves, together they’ve also written and produced tunes for the likes of Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley, Reba McEntire, Lee Ann Womack, Kelly Clarkson, and Sheryl Crow. As a singer/songwriter, Clark has toured with Crow and released several critically acclaimed albums, the first of which earned her a 2015 Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
While Shucked’s composer/lyricists are clearly humbled to now be working with illustrious figures in another arena, they feel very much at home in musical theater, given the strong narrative tradition it shares with country music. “I like the challenge of needing to make something work for a story,” Clark explains. “I think of storytelling as my strongest suit as a songwriter.”
Shucked’s story focuses on a small town whose citizens are threatened when their corn crop starts failing. “The comparisons we get from people who’ve seen the show are to The Book of Mormon and Oklahoma!,” notes McAnally. “It has a sense of classic tradition, but also that comedy and irreverence. The book is painfully funny. The difference is that kids can’t go to Book of Mormon, but they can go to this show, because the stuff that’s written for adults is written in a way where they won’t know what’s going on.”
McAnally muses that, as a fledgling artist, “I was told by multiple gatekeepers, ‘Your songs sound like they belong in musicals’—and it wasn’t a compliment. I’m actually surprised it took me so long to find this world, of theater, because of the melodic sense. Brandy loves those sort of melodies too.”
Granted, he and Clark have come to realize that the process of writing songs for a musical involves cutting along the way, and then going back, repeatedly, to the drawing board. “I’ve learned that musicals are not so much written as rewritten,” Clark quips. “It can be frustrating when Shane and I write a song we really love but it doesn’t work, because the story changes. But we always end up in a better place.”
O’Brien has marveled at their efficiency and agreeability. “You get into a room with them, you sit down, and 10 minutes later, they have a brand-new song,” the director says. “It’s a different rhythm, a different perspective on writing music than you typically have with a Broadway musical. They have no idea to what degree they’re unique. And they have zero ego. If you say, ‘That’s not quite right,’ they sit right down and write another one. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”
Clark returns the praise: “To get to work with a director like Jack O’Brien, who’s had so much experience, is incredible. I’ve just learned an immense amount from him—not only about musical theater, but about life, and working with people. I think of him as a coach, really, and he’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever been around.”
Clark and McAnally, who are both gay, have felt embraced by the Broadway community in general, as both artists and people. “I remember early on in this process talking about the need for diversity,” Clark points out, “and I said, ‘Well, Shane and Robert and I—the three authors of this show—are all gay.’ And somebody said, ‘That’s no big deal in this world—that’s nothing special!’”
McAnally has also discovered “many closet country lovers” in their adopted community. “I couldn’t believe how many people auditioned for this show with songs we had written, who already had a reverence for Brandy and me as songwriters. They knew of us through the artists we’d worked with. I mean, it seems like everyone in theater is obsessed with Kacey Musgraves.”
McAnally admits, “I do find myself at times apologizing or fearful that the more traditional Broadway audience will have a preconceived idea about the show. And I hope they see it, because I think the best weapon we have in this show is the element of surprise.”
