‘Shucked’ review: Broadway’s best and funniest new musical

Michaela Zee editor Aw shucks! The cast and crew of “Shucked” celebrated the musical comedy’s opening at the Nederlander Theatre on Tuesday night. Set in the fictional Cob County, “Shucked” follows Maizy (Caroline Innerbichler in her Broadway debut) as she leaves her small town to find a solution for the community’s rotting corn crops. The musical’s cast also includes John Behlmann, Kevin Cahoon, Andrew Durand, Grey Henson, Ashley D. Kelley and Alex Newell. “They were like, ‘It’s just a sweet show about corn that knows exactly what it is.’ And I was like, ‘OK, what does that mean?’” Henson told Variety before the show. “But then reading the script, I was like, ‘Oh, this is a genius piece of musical theater.’”

She’s got a new attitude! Martha Stewart debuted a fresh cut — and it has her feeling as confident as ever. 

BreAnna Bell Showtime has announced its forthcoming spy drama, “Ghosts of Beirut,” will make its debut on Friday, May 19, on Showtime’s streaming site and will air on linear on May 21 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The four-part limited series tells the origin story of 21-year old Mughniyeh (who is also referred to as “The Ghost”), an elusive Lebanese terrorist who evaded capture from the CIA and Mossad for two decades. He was responsible for more American deaths than any other individual prior to 9/11. “Told from the American, Israeli and Lebanese perspectives, the series traces Mughniyeh’s origins from the Shiite slums of South Beirut to his masterminding of the concept of suicide bombers, a deadly tactic that led to his swift rise as the world’s most dangerous terrorist. Based on extensive research of still-classified events, the drama spans decades and weaves in first-hand, real-life interviews with prominent officials from the CIA and Mossad, connecting the turmoil of 1980s Beirut with the spy games of the modern Middle East,” reads Showtime’s official description.

EXCLUSIVE: Showtime has set Ghosts Of Beirut, a four-part spy drama based on the real-life espionage story of the manhunt for Imad Mughniyeh, the elusive Lebanese terrorist who outwitted his adversaries in the CIA and Mossad for over two decades. The limited series, from Fauda creators Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz, features an international cast led by Dina Shihabi (Jack Ryan), Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend’s Wedding), Garret Dillahunt (12 Years a Slave), Iddo Goldberg (Snowpiercer), Hisham Suleiman (Fauda), Amir Khoury (Image of Victory) and Rafi Gavron (A Star is Born).

Puns grow knee-high – and in bawdier moments a bit higher – in Shucked, the new musical comedy that combines the winking hayseed humor of Green Acres and Hee Haw with the decidedly urban, gently subversive camp that peppered the Off Broadway scene in the ’90s with kitschy fare like Ruthless!, The Real Live Brady Bunch and Theatre-A-Go!-Go!’s Valley of the Dolls parody.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Pearls of wisdom and displays of affection were shared widely on Tuesday afternoon when honorees Judy Blume, Natasha Lyonne, Rosie Perez, Kelly Ripa and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez took the stage at Variety‘s Power of Women New York luncheon, presented by Lifetime, at midtown restaurant The Grill. While all five women touched on the key lessons they’ve learned in life and the importance of those who teach them during the luncheon, hosted by “Saturday Night Live’s” Ego Nwodim, it was iconic YA author Blume who made much of her speech a tribute to public educators and librarians who are trying to protect students’ rights amid increased government scrutiny and censorship in public education.

Kelly Ripa is learning from the younger generation. On Tuesday, the  host spoke with ET at 's 2023 Power of Women event in New York City, and shared what she most admires about her and Mark Consuelos' 21-year-old daughter, Lola Consuelos. «I am the most impressed with her ability to really speak about what she needs when she needs it,» Ripa tells ET. «She unapologetically does that.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent “Support is what all women in every industry could always use more of — and will seldom ask for,” Kelly Ripa said, as she took the stage at Variety‘s Power of Women: New York event on Tuesday afternoon. “Offer support to someone who needs it. Encourage others to do the same. Sometimes just being asked is enough.” Ripa’s advice was part of her stirring speech at Variety‘s annual luncheon where she was one of five Power of Women honorees, along with Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Rosie Perez, Natasha Lyonne and Judy Blume. “Don’t ever be afraid to advocate for yourself. Don’t ever be afraid to advocate for others,” Ripa continued. “Knowing that a person or group of people have your back can be the most powerful thing in the world.”

EXCLUSIVE: Muse Storytelling is in production on a documentary about Romero Britto, one of the most popular artists in the world and the founder of the Happy Art Movement.

EXCLUSIVE: Broadway casting director Benton Whitley announced today the creation of Whitley Theatrical, a New York City-based casting and producing office for theater, film, and television.

Lily Moayeri Jean-Michel Basquiat was the quintessential New York City artist during his life and after his death. So the arrival of the exhibition Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure© at the Grand LA in the heart of downtown Los Angeles is a welcome one for those left-coasters who couldn’t catch the display at RXR’s Starrett-Lehigh Building in New York in 2022, where it attracted 210,000 visitors over eight months. King Pleasure (stylized as King Pleasure©) is presented by Basquiat’s family, with his sisters, Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux guiding and curating the project. This is the first time the artist’s family has opened his estate’s vault, which they have administered since his untimely death in 1988 at the age of 27. Designed by architect David Adjaye with Abbott Miller of Pentagram creating the exhibition’s identity, King Pleasure features over 200 rare and never seen before pieces.

A new addition has been made to the prosecutorial team in the “Rust” shooting case. On Wednesday, the office of New Mexico’s First Judicial District Attorney, Mary Carmack-Altwies — who was prosecuting Alec Baldwin — appointed long-time New Mexico attorneys Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis to serve as special prosecutors in the case.

 shooting case.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Santa Fe D.A. Mary Carmack-Altwies will step aside in the prosecution of Alec Baldwin for the fatal shooting of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, and has named two lawyers to take over the case. Carmack-Altwies appointed Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis as special prosecutors on the case. Both are private attorneys based in Albuquerque. The move comes after Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled on Monday that Carmack-Altwies could not continue to prosecute the case if she appointed a special prosecutor. Baldwin and “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed were charged in January with involuntary manslaughter for the death of Hutchins. Gutierrez Reed mistakenly loaded a live round into Baldwin’s gun. Baldwin was holding it when it fired — he has denied pulling the trigger — killing Hutchins and wounding the film’s director.

An early career pay gap. Kelly Ripa claimed that her husband, Mark Consuelos, made more money when they worked together on All My Children — despite the fact that he joined the soap opera years after she did.

A rocky road to success. Kelly Ripa is one of the leading daytime television hosts — but getting to that point wasn’t always easy.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer A judge on Monday blocked the Santa Fe district attorney from appointing a new prosecutor in the “Rust” case, marking another setback for the prosecution. Mary Carmack-Altwies, the elected D.A., said at a hearing Monday that the office is in “dire straits” due to a manpower shortage, and needs an outside lawyer to help prosecute Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed for the October 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. But Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ruled that the D.A. could not appoint a “special prosecutor” unless the D.A.’s office plans to recuse itself entirely from the case.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Your eyes have deceived you if you ever took too quick a look at a passing reference to one of the great singer-songwriters of our day and mistook Brandy Clark for Brandi Carlile or vice versa. But those same eyes will not be seeing double if, in the very near future, you end up seeing both those names in close conjunction, a lot. Clark recently completed her fourth album — a self-titled one — for Warner Records, and the just-announced May 19 release is produced by possibly her biggest fan: Carlile. Their occasionally confused monograms are among the least of the things the two have in common, since both have enjoyed years of mutual acclaim among music fans who are partial to top-flight Americana or country sounds, or simply the classic singer-songwriter style. Beyond that, there are even more borderline-spooky commonalities that make it seem like they were both born under a good sign. “We’re both from Washington State; we’re both gay — we have a lot in common,” says Clark, picking out some of the obvious shared bio points. “And then a lot not in common. But Brandi is amazing, is how much she wants to prop other artists up. It’s a pretty big, generous gift.”

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed is seeking to block the appointment of a new prosecutor in her involuntary manslaughter case, after the first one resigned. Gutierrez Reed and actor Alec Baldwin have both been charged in the death of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who was accidentally shot on set in October 2021. In a brief filed on Friday, Gutierrez Reed’s lawyer argued that Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies is misusing the New Mexico statute that allows for the appointment of an outside prosecutor. “The statute is not designed to give district attorneys a taxpayer-funded supplemental ‘war chest’ to prosecute cases involving ‘high profile’ actors or individuals,” wrote defense lawyer Jason Bowles.