Homegrown yuks getting cornier by the second! Must mean Shucked is coming to town! Checking in with Howard County native, Erick Pinnick, we do get a little earful about the poppin’ good time that is playing in the first National Tour of Shucked.

Thank you for giving us some of your time, Erick, it’s really exciting to get to talk to you!

Erick Pinnick: No problem. Hello! It’s nice to chat with someone from back home!

It’s a double-delight for me, I just got to chat with Jake, who although is originally from Arlington, did his first professional gigs here in Baltimore and claims Baltimore as his second home!

Erick: He’s such a nice guy! And actually, Jake and I both went to JMU! We’re both JMU alumni but I’m born and bred in Baltimore, as you can hear in my voice!

That’s wonderful. Whereabouts in Baltimore?

Erick: Forrest Park up until the age of ten. Then we moved to Ellicott City when I was ten and then college.

I totally feel that! I’m also born and bred in Baltimore— I started out in Lansdowne on the southwest tip of the county in that unique little section of land that touches both Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County directly and could be either but is actually neither. And now I live in the furthest northeast corner of Baltimore County right at the Harford County border.

Erick: And you went to UMBC?

I did! Wow you did your research!

Erick: We like to know who we’re talking to!

That is really fantastic! So how excited are you to be on this tour of Shucked?

Erick: So excited! I was actually lucky enough to see the very first performance of Shucked on Broadway. And it was one of the most electric nights in the theatre that I’ve ever experienced. We were the very first audience to see this! And what’s so different about Shucked is you really don’t know what it is going on. I mean maybe now people can have more of an idea because they can listen to some of the numbers of Spotify or see some clips on the internet here and there, but it’s not based on an existing thing like a movie or singers’ lives or a book or anything. So I went in there thinking, “okay, let me see what this is.” And it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life!

I am really excited about everything you just said, especially the part where you said it’s not based on something else. I feel like with a lot of new shows that have been released, so many of them are— to borrow Jake’s word— derivative. So many of these shows you go in thinking, “I read the book, I saw the movie, I watched the TV series, I know the basics of history for this premise” and then you find yourself comparing the whole time instead of absorbing and enjoying. Shucked is this exciting new thing and everyone who has talked to me about it says something along the lines of “I’m not really sure what I just watched but I loved it and it was really funny and I didn’t know I needed it.” And that’s unheard of in our industry, especially recently. So I’m really stoked about the chance to get to discover it when it’s in-town in a few weeks.

Erick: And you know whenever people what the show is about, the first thing we say is, “CORN.” Always corn. We always start with the corn. Now one of the things I appreciate about the audiences that we’ve had is that you have to take a leap of faith with them a little bit. They’ve gotten used to going to see things based on other things, so it’s not always in their nature now to be able to say “okay, yes, I’ll take a chance and go see this thing where I have absolutely no idea what it’s about.” Some people like to know what they’re getting into. But I think the word of mouth is so good with this show, and you can sort of feel that with our audiences as they fill-up during the week, and that’s exciting.

I would absolutely agree. I’m also really excited, personally- as a regional-area theatre critic who sees professional tours, regional shows, as well as community, collegiate, and children’s theatre- just to see something that is not a show I’ve seen 26 different times already.

Erick: That’s great! It’s good to come in unaware and just know that you’re going to have a good time!

Thank you! I’m so excited. Now I feel like you definitely do not sound old enough to be playing a character called ‘Grandpa’ but maybe I’m wrong?

Erick: Haha! What I always say to people when they bring that up is that my brother was a grandpa at age 36/37 and I am well older than that! I’m up in age and I could definitely be a grandpa!

Wow. That seems impossible— I’m looking at your headshot and you do not look like you are “up in age.”

Erick: That’s very nice, and I’ve actually heard that from people after they see the show too, but I’m telling you I am! It’s funny, when I first got the audition for this, in that same week, I got an audition for a character called “Old Fart” in a different project. I remember saying to my agent, “Really? Is this where we’re going? Old Fart and Grandpa?” in the same week? And I had that moment where I said, “Okay! I see what’s ahead of me now.” It was really very funny. And then my agent pointed out that with Shucked, they wanted to cast the Grandpa younger and have him play up. And I thought, “Okay. I can live with that.” And for the physical things that Grandpa has to do? It’s smart that they do it that way. You’ll see what I mean when you see the show. The costume helps, the glasses really take it over the edge, it’s all in the costuming. Maybe I do a little bit too that helps, but it’s in the costuming.

I cannot wait to see what this looks like on stage. How is Grandpa different from some other roles you have done before? How does this compare?

Erick: It’s interesting, especially as you grow into the Grandpa/Old Fart category, you become like the Morgan Freeman. You’re the wise man who knows everything— and that’s actually part of my Grandpa character— I do help our hero or rather our heroine back on the path that I think is probably best for her. What’s different about this role is that I also get to be funny. That’s the big difference. I think there’s 187 or 188 jokes in the show. If you can believe it. In two hours and 15 minutes. It’s chock full of laughs. But it’s nice to not only be ‘the voice of reason’ but to get a few laughs. I love to make one person laugh but to make a whole theatre laugh? There’s nothing like it. And who doesn’t need a good laugh these days!

Oh absolutely! I was going to say, without getting too deeply into the chaos of the world that we currently live in, what is it that you’re hoping the audiences are going to walk away thinking, feeling, and experiencing from what sounds like a very lighthearted and fun theatrical evening?

Erick: It definitely is light and fun and entertaining. But at the heart of it— there is heart. This sense of community is there. What’s great about our show is that you get to see all types of people on stage. You get to see diversity on stage and you see us work together and love each other as a community. That’s one great thing for people to take away from this. The other thing is our heroine in the story— she doesn’t realize that she’s the heroine or that she has it in her in the beginning. And I’m worried that I’ve said too much but this all happens in the first ten minutes of the show.

That’s actually a personal rule of thumb I subscribe to! If you learn it in the first ten minutes— it’s not a spoiler!

Erick: Okay, good. Well she gets called the hero within the first ten minutes of the show. We know whose journey we’re on. The other thing to really take away from this, especially in the world that we’re in today? Believe that you can be the hero in your own story.

Oh yes. I like that phrase a lot!

Erick: She’s our hero. And she grows into it. She doubts herself in the beginning, but she’s the that comes through to save us.

You’re making me love this more and more. What has being a part of this first National Tour of Shucked taught you about yourself?

Erick: It’s interesting because this is my third tour in the states and my fifth tour overall because I toured Europe in two different shows. I think you learn to make time for yourself. You learn to get enough rest. We’re on a pretty rigorous schedule; we get one day off a week and that day is full of travel to get to the next city. You have to be really adaptable. You learn to have the things around you that you think you might miss if you don’t see it for a year. And it’s little things, like my nice speaker. I brought that with me this time, which I didn’t bring on the last tour. Or my PlayStation. I might not get to touch it for three months but then there will be a night where I have free time and it’s nice to have a night where I can do that because I remembered to bring it with me. You learn to have the things around you that are going to make you happy. Because every new week is a new home.

And you’re in Schenectady at the moment and it’s not snowing.

Erick: We are and it is not snowing, haha! It’s actually beautiful out right now.

At that exact moment in time, I’d say we have the same weather. Low-to-mid 50’s and sunny, though it’s very windy here in Baltimore at the moment.

Erick: Hey it’s nice weather, so I’ll take it! And we head to Buffalo after this, so I’m enjoying the weather while we have it!

Indeed! Stay warm as you shuffle off to Buffalo! Now, is there a moment or line or musical number in the show, and I hate to use the word favorite, that really speaks to you or defines what the show is about for you?

Erick: I have some lines— some comedy lines— that I look forward to, and it’s going to sound so selfish but I really love to deliver those lines because I think they are beautifully written and I know that they generally have a good payoff. What’s nice about this show is that Robert Horn, the esteemed book writer, he was with us, as was Jack O’Brien, in rehearsals every day. A lot of times what happens with a show that’s just come off Broadway to go on tour is it’s the exact same book, the exact same choreography, people are cast in a similar way. But what’s nice here for this tour is that they’ve incorporated a lot of new lines for this touring version of the script. It’s almost like being at that very first performance because we know that some of these jokes are jokes that no one has heard before because they weren’t a part of the Broadway show. So you feel this sense of ownership over them. This is my joke. I am the first person that will ever say this joke to you when you hear it for the first time.

There’s actually a huge section, it’s one of my favorite parts of the show, we do this all-male number near the end of the show called “Best Man Wins.” It’s a very athletic number. There’s also a whole section in that number where the character of Peanut has this whole bit about how he’s helping us to concoct this idea to make something else happen in the show. And that whole section is completely new. Because the Peanut is our show— the type of performer and who he is as a human— is very different from the Peanut of Broadway. So Robert Horn saw that and said, “What I wrote for Broadway”— which I thought was great— “is not going to fit you.” And Robert Horn rewrote that whole section. That’s really fun. Obviously we’re doing Shucked that was on Broadway but it’s also our own Shucked.

I like that. I love that it’s being adapted. And I like that this will be something that so, so many people will get to see for the first time because it didn’t get to run on Broadway very long, so there are still quite a few audiences out there who are going to come into this saying, “What am I walking into?”

Erick: Right! What’s really great with some of these venues where the audiences are close enough that you can see their faces? In the opening number, there’s a big corn number, and to see peoples faces change from “what is happening?” to smiles is just so great. It’s a great experience because you literally see that moment of “oh yeah, they’re with us now! They know what they’re in for!”  

Speaking of corn, is corn a part of your dietary life?

Erick: Oh yeah! Corn on the cob and I had some really good fried corn in one of our last cities. It was delicious!

Fried corn? I did not even know that was a thing!

Erick: Fried corn on the cob. It was so delicious. I would seek it out! Good old fashioned corn on the cob is good enough for me. If you throw it on the grill, even better.

But the real question, seeing as you’re a Baltimore native,  you do put Old Bay on your corn on the cob, correct?

Erick: Oh yes. Especially when I’m having crabs, which is any time when I’m in Maryland. I will only eat crabs in Maryland. I am a crab snob!

Anybody who is from Maryland is a crab snob because if you have what they call ‘crabs’ else-place, it’s immediately like “who are you kidding? Those are not crabs.”

Erick: Exactly!

What would you tell people as to why they should come out and see the show here in Baltimore?

Erick: Because you’re going to come and have a good time, you’re going to laugh your butt off, you’re going to be a part of the fun. This cast is a cast full of really funny people. We get along both on-stage and off. The same fun that we have in the dressing room and backstage before we go on stage, translates to the fun that you’re going to see us having on stage. I think that’s what they audience feels and then they feel like they want to be a part of the fun that they see us having and they get swept up in it. It’s a good time. And then there’s the heart of the show at the very end of it, which ties everything together. Come out and have a good time and laugh 188 times.

That sounds fantastic! I want to laugh 188 times!

Erick: Oh and of course the score is beautiful too. Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally (music & lyrics) have made it great. So that’s what I’d say.

This sounds so wonderful I cannot wait to see this show. Erick, is there anything else you want to say about coming back home to Baltimore?

Erick: I’m really excited. I grew up seeing shows at The Mechanic and The Lyric. The Hippodrome wasn’t around yet. I was supposed to come through town with Summer: The Donna Summer Musical but then this little thing called Covid— you know, that little thing— kinda put the stop to that. I was so excited to be coming through Baltimore! I had worked at Center Stage a couple of times but I had never ‘played Baltimore’ and I was so excited that Summer was coming through and then it didn’t happen, and that was such a bummer. It’s going to be so much fun to come through Baltimore. I am so excited to see The Hippodrome and to fulfill my dream of coming home through Baltimore with a show. I have lots of friends and family who are so excited to come out and see me. It’s going to be so cool!

I look forward to seeing the show and to meeting both you and Jake. Erick, this has been a delight, thank you so, so much. Enjoy Schenectady and stay warm in Buffalo!

Erick: Thank you so much for your time! See you in a few weeks!  

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.

To read the interview with Shucked’s Jake Odmark, click here.