Now that the sun’s out and temps are up, it’s time to declare a song of spring. “Song of spring” doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily as “song of summer,” but it’s a real thing, and it’s necessary to have something playing in your ears as you strut to the subway. This year, it happens to be the act-one barn burner “Independently Owned” from Shucked, the show colloquially known as “Oh, LOL, the corn musical?” When Shucked premiered on April 4, the two main takeaways seemed to be (1) that’s a lot of corn puns and (2) Alex Newell crushes. Any fans of Glee will not be surprised to hear this, but for the rest of you knaves, Newell’s voice is so powerful that it would be a regulated weapon if America actually regulated weapons. They can belt, and songwriters Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally give them plenty of opportunities to do so in this track.
In Shucked, Newell plays Lulu, a fiery corn-whiskey proprietress who is the best friend and cousin of lead character Maizy. When a conman comes to town, he and Lulu have a classic enemies-to-lovers plotline — but not before she puts him in his place with her song about being an independent, liberated “w-o-m-a-n.” The lyrics tell you all you need to know about the tone of the show: “The boys ’round here sure ain’t much help / This corn ain’t gonna shuck itself!” So whether or not you think of yourself as a Broadway person, let “Independently Owned” into your … ears.
