Let’s Get This Show On the Road:
In remote and isolated Cobb County, the world revolves around corn and nothing but corn. When locals Maizy and Beau are about to get married, the crop suddenly begins to whither. Maizy postpones her wedding to travel to the outside world to look for help, against Beau’s wishes. She winds up in Tampa, Florida, and meets Gordy, a shady podiatrist–a corn doctor–and begs him for help. Gordy, who owes the mob a lot of money, thinks Cobb County may be sitting on untapped mineral wealth and decides to accompany her back home. But when sparks begin to fly between Maizy and Gordy, it could jeopardize everything they know.
The Room Where It Happened:
The Fox Theater, St. Louis, Missouri. A Christmas present from my mother. The ushers at the Fox are polite to a fault, but the urinals in the men’s room are so close that I was literally touching hips with the guys next to me at intermission.
Sign My Playbook:
The story is narrated by two onstage storytellers (one man and one woman) who act as kind of a Greek chorus, melding into whatever is going on. In one impressive scene, Gordy is carrying on two simultaneous cell phone conversations with two mobsters and two jewelers, all played by the storytellers who rapidly switch accents, personas, and headwear.
Maizy’s cousin Lulu immediately sees Gordy for what he is: a self-obsessed, lying, dirtbag con artist. She’ll do anything to protect her cousin, even if it means throwing herself in front of Gordy–or on top of him.
As for the rest of the cast, it was the usual amazing lineup of dancers, singers, and actors with perfect timing. The man sitting next to me had one of those tablet devices that show the dialog. It was impressive how closely the cast followed the pre-programmed script.
The Book:
The whole plot was kind of silly, with the song and dance numbers stealing the show. I especially loved Beau’s brother Peanut, who’d constantly drop pearls of wisdom:
“‘Based on a true story’ means it really happened, but with uglier people.”
“You’ve been pissier than a public swimming pool.”
“Remember when we used to make sandcastles with Grandma, until Grandpa hid the urn?”
Setting the Scene:
The entire set consisted of a ramshackle barn. However, the corners didn’t quite sync up with the edges of the stage, and and it would occasionally waver in the background like I was seeing it through a dense haze or intense heat. It was an Escher-esque, non-Euclidean, Lovecraftian nightmare that opened the way to hallucination and madness.
Give Me That Eleven O’Clock Number:
In ‘Corn Mix’, Beau, Peanut, Storyteller #2, and the rest of the guys decide to get Gordy drunk, hoping he’ll confess to his evil scheme.
“Wow, that is so strong it could raise five kids on a teacher’s salary.”
In one hour, they cycle through all the stages of drunkeness: loud, buddy buddy, singing, talkative, urinating, morose, horny, etc.
Standing O:
Sophie mentioned that the original Broadway actor who played Lulu was the first non-binary person to win a Tony, which is pretty cool. The Lulu actor in our version was also non-binary. Good, diverse cast.
Statler and Waldorf Say:
These are times that try men’s souls, and I kind of needed something lighthearted and smutty. Remember, the best things in life are corn, especially the kind you drink.
FTC full disclosure: I received no money or bottles of Lulu’s whiskey for writing this review.
