Corn is so fantastic because it has a-maize-ing friends! There. I told my corn joke. And it popped! And if you need more of that corny humor, you’re in luck! Shucked is coming to Baltimore, landing at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre, and it’s bringing some local yokels with it! No joke and this isn’t an April Fools’ prank! We’ve had a phone-chat-interview with Jake Odmark, starring as Beau in Shucked, and we can’t wait to share it with you!

Thank you so much for giving us some of your time, Jake, we really appreciate it! How are you doing today?

Jake Odmark: Thank you! I’m doing really well. So how are you?

I’m doing great, thanks so much for asking! Where in the geographical US are you right now?

Jake: We are in Schenectady, New York. It is about 50 degrees and sunny. It’s not that bad outside, it’s actually quite picturesque outside right now. When it’s snowing, you don’t want to leave the house, but when it’s sunny, it’s really nice.

That sounds lovely. Now they told me that you’re from close-to-Baltimore, as your home, yes? You’re from Arlington?

Jake: I’m from Arlington, Virginia, that is correct.

That is super cool. So you must have done some work at Signature Theatre.

Jake: Signature was kind of my home base, I did two shows there. Sunset Boulevard was my first full-length show there, and I also did the world-premiere of a play called Really Really. It’s a pretty renowned play now but I did it back in 2012. I was at the first table read of that play and it got produced at Signature before being moved up to New York where it was directed by David Cromer. Now it’s kind of like a staple in the canon of colleges and regional theatres everywhere. It’s kind of cool because you can walk into any bookstore and it says “original cast: Jake Odmark in the lead role of Davis at Signature Theatre in 2012.” Signature I owe a lot to, but also, I worked in Baltimore for two straight summers.

My first ever, professional acting jobs were in Baltimore. I worked at Toby’s Dinner Theatre!

Oh my goodness! At the one over off O’Donnell Street? Toby’s of Baltimore? By the truck stop?

Jake: That’s right! That’s the one! I worked there in the summers of 2007 and 2008. It was my first-ever job. That’s where I truly fell in love with theatre. At the time, it was still kind of a hobby for me, I was getting a degree, but I thought I’d go into production or be a music producer or something like that. But it wasn’t until Toby’s— I mean, first of all, getting paid to sing and dance? How cool is that! I also met life-long friends there. I had a lot of success. I was playing Danny in Grease and I was playing Riff in West Side. And that experience led me to all the connections that I needed— my first national tour was cast by a guy who directed me at Toby’s.

That’s amazing!

Jake: Yeah, Toby’s was definitely the catalyst for my entire career.

That is so fantastic. Sadly, Toby’s of Baltimore is no longer with us, but I believe the Columbia location is still around.

Jake: I know, it’s sad, but yes— I heard they’re doing a big renovation and making it the Columbia Center for the Arts or something.

That’s what I’ve heard! So what is it like being on this national tour with Shucked? Because this seems to be the show where nobody can tell me what it’s about or where it came from, yet everyone I talk to who has seen it says that they loved it and that it’s the show they didn’t know they needed to see.

Jake: I think that’s kind of on purpose. We kind of keep it an enigma. We don’t necessarily want to sell it on what it’s about. Because I think it’s more about the vibe. It’s a musical that stands alone. You’re never going to see another musical like Shucked. And so for good reason, narrowing it down to a story about a smalltown girl on a farm, whose farm-crop dies, and so she has to go in search of help elsewhere— I think that sells it short. It’s way more about the themes of community and family, all done through absolute hilarity and parody. It’s definitely farce, I think it’s the funniest show I’ve ever seen or done. People relate it to Book of Mormon, it’s that type of humor.

It’s that type of energy where you’re laughing so hard you have to laugh quick and then get quiet so that you can hear the next joke. That’s how fast they come in this show. It’s the type of show where you don’t realize— because it’s so funny and we don’t take anything seriously— that you’re going to feel things. You don’t expect us to hit you with something real. Love and community and trust and heartbreak, those elements sneak up on you in this show, and that’s why I think it’s just exquisitely written. Robert Horn (book) is no stranger to the business, but I think this is his best script by far. He won the Tony for Tootsie but this one is the best. Through lighthearted silliness, he lets us make fun of each other and therefore bring our walls down and we’re able to be more vulnerable, lean on strangers, and not judge people by their covers. Those are all the elements that sneak up on you and by the end— well you’ll see. Probably the most common thing that gets said to me, or asked at me is, “Why was I crying? Why do I have a lump in my throat at the end?” It’s because you don’t see it coming. It’s so hilarious and silly and then all of the sudden, you’re really feeling the feels. It’s an absolute privilege to be a part of.

That sounds absolutely fantastic. I was already excited about it. Now I’m stoked. They tell me that you’re playing Beau in this show. And how does Beau compare to some of the other roles that you’ve done all along the course of your career?

Jake: Beau stands alone. I think that Beau is my favorite role that I’ve ever played. I’ve gotten to play some cool ones— I’ve gotten to play Peter Parker in Spiderman, I’ve gotten to play Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman. I’ve gotten to play these iconic roles in show business, and this one just stands alone because it’s such a privilege to have a script that’s not derivative. There’s no movie, there’s no book, there’s no poem, there’s no first version, this isn’t a sequel. This is a brand-new, original story. To create something where no one knows who he is, and to teach the audience who he is throughout the course of the night is such a privilege.

He’s also just beautifully written. He’s a person that I can really relate to because he leads with loyalty and compassion. He’s brought up right. He has a lyric where he says, “I call my daddy sir and I call my mama ma’am. And if I ever talk back, I’ll get the back of her hand.” He’s raised to be a good boy and even though he leads with his heart, he’s always putting his foot in his mouth. That’s super relatable to me growing up. I always felt like I had the best of intentions but it never came out the right way before you reach that maturity level of a certain age. Beau is just one that I can really relate to. I think all the characters in this show have something like that. Where we mean well but don’t always execute well. I think that’s where true learning happens.

Oh absolutely! What would you say is the reason you would encourage people to come out here in Baltimore when the show arrives at the beginning of next month, and see this show, that for all intents and purposes, looks like it’s about corn.

Jake: Haha! That’s easy. I think this is going to be an absolute iconic musical and staple in our industry for years to come. I think it’s kind of a kin to seeing the first ever production of Hairspray, which Jack O’Brien, our director, also directed. Or picture back when Phantom of the Opera came out. When these shows come out, it takes a while but people notice. These shows stand out. They’re different. Everyone can remember the first time they ever saw these interesting, daring new shows. I think Shucked is one of them. I don’t at all take that lightly. I think, if I was an audience member, and I had the chance to be one of the first audiences to see this show— so that in ten or twenty years when everyone sees it everywhere, you’ll see it at every regional theatre, you’ll see revivals, you’ll see a movie that’ll come out, you’ll see it done in high schools and colleges— you can say that “I remember the first production. I saw the first national tour.” I would want to be a part of that audience.

It only ran on Broadway for less than a year so these audiences are 99% virgins to this show. I think right there that’s something that I would jump at. This isn’t just another production of The Music Man that’s coming to town. This is a first national tour. There’s only been two people to ever play Beau.

And you’re one of them.

Jake: I am and I’m very grateful for that. I have that privilege. And the audiences have that privilege of being there first, seeing it first. Not only that, but with the state of the world, laughter and not-shoving-a-message-down-your-throat, not taking yourself too seriously, just sitting back and having a beer and having some good laughs is just the medicine that we all need.

I could not agree with you more. Now, I have to ask. Do you like corn? As a food?

Jake: Oh my gosh! I’m obsessed. I used to say when I was little that corn dogs were my favorite food! I love anything cornbread. We had creamed corn when I was little. We actually grew corn when I was younger. My chore as a little boy would be back in the compost and shuck our corn. I remember having a specific strategy at how to do it really fast. And I was always like, “Look, Mom! Look how fast I got it done!” I love corn!

What is your favorite preparation for corn nowadays?

Jake: I’ve got to say corn dog, because like I said, that was my favorite growing up. But honestly, you can’t beat this— what I do, is I take corn on the cob and just cut it off the cob and I just roast it with butter and salt. I think it’s the purest form of it. Or just putting butter right on the cob— oh man! It’s so good!

I had many a summer with my mom cutting corn off the cob for me because I was a braces girl in late elementary school and middle school.

Jake: Yeah! Exactly! I had a chipped tooth so I had to cut it off the cob.

That’s how we roll for sure! Now what is it that you’re hoping audiences are going to experience, other than sitting back and enjoying a good night at the theatre, from coming out to see Shucked? We are definitely living in some unprecedented times and I think people are a little afraid to go out and enjoy themselves right now. What is it that you’re hoping people will take away from this experience?

Jake: I think first and foremost, easy entertainment. You’re not going to get taught something, there’s not going to be any sort of political lean or agenda to this show at all. So right then you can breathe a sigh of relief and we actually feel that every single night with the audiences. Typically with theatre, specifically, it’s there as a utensil to enact change. This show is more “let’s all just take a chill and have fun.” As far as the themes, I think it’s about getting out of our comfort zone and leaning on strangers. Right now because of the polarization of the country, I think that is a very important thing. This whole show is about a smalltown community that’s never left and now they have to go venture into the big, urban metropolis to seek help. They have their own prejudices against urban life as urban life does against smalltown, rural America. I think right off the bat this show does a good job of showing that both are valued.  Your community and your family and your own little bubble is valuable as is reaching out and trusting and not judging others just because they’re strangers. It does that in a way that you don’t see coming, and that’s what I’m talking about when I say the feels sneak up on you. We make fun of rural America, we make fun of urban America, and yet we also show how valuable both of them are.

Hopefully people will come away ready to change their minds. If they come into this with a certain prejudice in the back of their minds or maybe if they thought there was no good out there in the world, maybe they can just take a second and think “I might be wrong; I’ll give it a second look.” And maybe they’ll start to realize that they can lean on others as they lean on their own community.

I am so excited to see this. This sounds incredible. I know you guys were just in DC— I sent one of my other reviewers because I knew it would be coming to Baltimore soon and I just cannot wait.

Jake: The DC audiences were so good. I know the Baltimore audiences will be just as good!

I’m looking forward to guys getting to be in our big, beautiful Hippodrome.

Jake: It is such a wonderful space. I’ve never played it. I cannot wait. I’ve been there so many times but I’ve never had the chance to play it before.

I am so thrilled for you! What would you say has been your biggest learning lesson being on this first national tour of Shucked? What’s your biggest learning lesson, your biggest takeaway?

Jake: Just how smart American audiences are. I’ve worked on Broadway for 12 straight years. I didn’t leave New York from 2011 to 2024. I played only to New York audiences. New York audiences are mostly out-of-towners, and you forget that, they’re the people who come to New York to see Broadway. I’m thinking “oh look at me, I’m playing to the smart, educated, theatre-going audiences.” And then you go out on the road and you go to places like Madison, Wisconsin and Schenectady, New York and oh man…they are just as ready and just as intelligent. They see the jokes coming before we ever thought they would. We thought we could pull things over on them? No. American audiences, no matter where they are, they love their theatre, they are smart and they are ready.

I was surprised by that. I thought there would be a big difference between playing on Broadway and playing out in rural America. But honestly there’s more pluses to playing in these houses where Shucked comes to town and it’s the event. As opposed to going to Broadway where there’s 29 other shows happening on the same night and you can pick your poison. I think that’s really special for me. People really cherish it, they are so supportive, and like I said, so smart and sharp. It has been such a joy to play to different demographics and see how this show ebbs and flows from city to city.

This is just amping up my enthusiasm to see this show. I hate to use the word ‘favorite’ but is there a moment or a song or an experience during the performance that just nails it for you every single night?

Jake: Yeah, it’s Beau’s first big song, it’s called “Somebody Will.” He gets his heart broken. I connect to it so much. The lyric goes, “if she doesn’t want me, somebody will.” When you read those lyrics and hear it, you immediately want to think, “that’s a guy putting up bravado, that’s a guy putting up a shield because he’s hurt.” And you tend to want to take it the wrong way, you tend to want to think “oh, screw that girl, I’ll go get another girl.” That’s the context it could be taken in and I believe that a lot of young men could say that and do go in that lane.

But what I think is actually happening is, he’s going through his checklist of what he’s done wrong and where his value is. This is the first time he’s ever experienced heartbreak. He’s saying, “I have manners, I’ve always been nice to her, I open doors for her, I pray in the morning, I work hard, so if she doesn’t love me, aren’t I worth something?” I think he’s going through that in real time in front of the audience. There’s no one else on stage. I think it’s one of the best songs in the whole show. I look forward to that every single night. And to be honest, when that song is done, I’m like “dang. I can’t wait for tomorrow.” That’s my absolute favorite moment in the show.

That is so endearing and touching and now I just want to hug Beau.

Jake: It is! And like I said, it’s surprising. There’s this kinda macho, smalltown, masculine boy, and there’s not a lot to like about a boy who thinks he knows everything. But this song is the first time that you get to see the vulnerability and the actual humanity of him. He’s saying “I’m trying. I know that I messed up. Maybe I’m not as smart as I look, but I do have this good quality and I am smart in this way and I’m trying.” I think that’s something that the audience can say, “oh, look, there’s humility.” It’s just written so well. The whole show is deeper than it looks.

I am so very excited. Now, you know that you’re not supposed to tell secrets in the cornfield, right?

Jake: Right?

Well you know why, right? Because corn has… ears?

Jake: Oh man! Corn has ears. I like that! Have you sent in a tape? You could audition with us.

You’re kind! I’m just excited to see all this corn in live time! Is there anything else you wanted to say about the experience or about the excitement of coming ‘home’ to Baltimore?

Jake: I would say that Baltimore has been circled on my calendar since the schedule came out. I lived in Dundalk when I worked at Toby’s. I kind of became one with Baltimore. It’s kind of like my second home. I lived with a friend’s parents, I didn’t stay in a hotel, I wasn’t commuting back to DC. I actually lived there the entire summer of ’07 and ’08. I loved it so much I went out everywhere in Baltimore, I know it like the back of my hand, I really do feel like it’s my second home. The people there welcomed me all those years ago and I’m just fully expecting that same warm, loving energy that you can only get in Baltimore, hon! I can’t wait.

I’m excited that you said Dundalk. My best friend lives over on the water right by the Hard Yacht Café.

Jake: Oh yeah! I know that place! And I picked up the accent pretty good while I was living over there too. That iconic Bawlmer Hon accent. It felt like home there. I was sad to leave it. The last Toby’s show I actually did was in Columbia but I really missed the Baltimore feeling. Columbia is right in the middle of Baltimore and DC so I would go back to DC at night but I really missed staying up in Baltimore. I love Baltimore.

I really love to hear that. Baltimore is such a wonderful city and we have such an uphill battle with the rest of the outside world in getting them to see how wonderful we are.

Jake: It gets lost in the mix between New York and DC and Philly and it’s a shame. Because Baltimore is second to none in my opinion. I love it so much. I think in some ways I look more forward to being back in Baltimore than I did when we toured DC, because Baltimore is where I actually was on stage. Yes, I did work in ‘DC’ but the theatre itself was in Virginia. DC was never home the way Baltimore was— those two whole summers! I started in early May of 2007 and went all the way to the end of August. It’s where I fell in love with the craft. It’s the absolute best. And I’m actually hoping to try and catch a Toby’s show while I’m in town.

I think they just opened The Music Man down at Columbia.

Jake: Yes, I think you’re right. I know the director pretty well, I think he’s going to try and see Shucked at least I hope he does!

Ah yes, Mr. Minnick.

Jake: Oh yeah! Mark and I are long-time good friends, he’s the one that cast me in my first national tour!

I suspected that’s who you were referencing earlier; I’ve also known Mark, probably not quite as long as you, but a good long while.

Jake: I’ve done six or seven shows with Mark. I went to China with Mark, I went to Istanbul with Mark, I’ve done three Toby’s shows with Mark. On the road with Phoenix Entertainment with Mark. He’s like my Dad. He was my first director that I really, really just rode his coattails; anything he said, I would do. I feel like I learned the most from Mark Minnick. He definitely deserves some sort of shout out or recognition. I fell in love and decided to move to New York and be on Broadway, mostly because of my experiences at Toby’s and Mark was my experience at Toby’s.

That’s so wonderful to hear. I am sure he will be delighted to hear this. Jake, it was lovely getting to chitchat with you and thank you so much for you time, I cannot wait to see you guys bring this show through Baltimore!

Jake: Thank you! And I cannot wait to be back in my second home!

Shucked plays April 1^st through April 6^th 2025 on the Main Stage of The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center— 12 N. Eutaw Street in Baltimore’s Bromo Arts District. Tickets are available by calling the box office at 410-837-7400 or purchasing them in advance online.