Miki Abraham talks starring in ‘Shucked’ at Fox Theatre

Miki Abraham Photo provided by BOND Theatrical Miki Abraham was the understudy for Alex Newell when Shucked made its Broadway run But now that the show is on tour the role of Lulu is all theirs The musical comes to town via the Regions Bank Broadway in Atlanta series and will run from May - at the Fox Theatre Shucked is directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O Brien of Hairspray fame with a book by Robert Horn and a amount by the songwriting crew of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally The musical takes place in the fictional location of Cob County where life revolves around corn One day when the corn dies and the locals have to figure out how to save it Lulu s cousin Maizy decides to venture out and try to find help We are small town no one ever comes in no one ever comes out Abraham who identifies as non-binary reported about the residents of Cob County We have everything we need we don t need outside help It s that small-minded mindset I am from Kentucky I grew up in it and I get it While the loss of corn is the catalyst a whole lot happens in Shucked such as mistaken identity and a wedding that almost doesn t take place It s all the classical musical theater tropes we have grown to know and love Abraham declared It s a story about change not being as scary as we think it is and us having more ceiling to love than we think we do It s got laughs our creative gang counted In addition to being Maizy s cousin Abraham s character of Lulu runs the whiskey distillery in town Abraham called the character the rock of the neighborhood Lulu knows everything about everyone and if there was anyone who ever left Cob County prior to the corn dying it was presumably Lulu they reported There is something about the way Lulu is written in the way she moves through space and is an all-knowing large take-up-space character The character s big number is called Independently Owned Every time Abraham sings the song it s almost an out-of-body experience Our creative unit allowed me to come in on Broadway when I was going on for the first time and helped me create the version of the song that works for me and fits my voice Abraham reported Getting to sing it every night is so exciting because it s the pivotal moment for Lulu you get to know who she is It seems to be the song everyone knows Even if you don t know Shucked you ve maybe heard Independently Owned Newell originated the role of Lulu and won a Tony Award for their performance Newell and J Harrison Ghee who won a Tony for their performance as Jerry Daphne in Particular Like It Hot the same year together became the first openly non-binary actors to be nominated for and win Tony Awards Newell and Abraham joined the company at the same time in Salt Lake City UT We came to it at around the same time and it was so cool to see Alex create the version that we all know and love that drag queens across the country are lip syncing to Abraham stated The creative crew created a non-binary queer role in the musical theater canon almost by accident Abraham stated Lulu has only ever been played by non-binary performers There is something inherently queer about that role in general I also think that the creative unit has done such a great job on Broadway and on tour because there is so much diversity within the company whether it is body type or gender expression or sexuality Abraham reported Of the years I have been in New York professionally doing shows this is the the majority diverse company and neighborhood I have ever been involved with It s a moment to see yourself represented It s a safe space for two and a half hours Everyone demands a safe space but LGBT people absolutely do need a safe space right now According to Abraham one appeal of the show is that it s a entirely original piece at a time when new musicals are a rarity Whenever there is an opportunity to see something brand new you should Abraham mentioned This is Abraham s third national tour Their first was five years ago before they had a husband and a dog It s much different now than the first time but they couldn t say no to this opportunity I think if it was any other project I would not be out here on the road they noted But I love this show and this role so much The post Miki Abraham talks starring in Shucked at Fox Theatre appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta