In 2022, Broadway was mired in pandemic recovery and filled with serious works promoting social justice. And then along came a show about sweetcorn. A show that was “Hee Haw” silly but also a show with a pedigree. The writer, Robert Horn, wrote the book for the Broadway musical adaptation of “Tootsie,” penned jokes for Dame Edna Everage, RuPaul and Bette Midler, and spent years in comedic writing rooms. The octogenarian director, Jack O’Brien, remains one of Broadway’s most sought-after directors, having helmed the original productions of “Hairspray,” “The Full Monty,” and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” among many others. Opinions varied as to whether “Shucked,” which features a small-town story about corn and a country-style score by Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark, was a great Broadway musical, but opinions did not vary much at all on one key aspect of the show: It was very, very funny. And “Shucked” opens in Chicago on Wednesday for a two-week run of the first national tour. Horn and O’Brien, talking from separate countries, spoke with the Tribune in late December over an aptly riotous and judiciously edited Zoom call. Q: “Shucked” began life before Broadway at the Eugene O’Neill Center. The set looks like the barn there.  O’Brien: It did. All of the creators were stuck in a B&B together. It was one of the most charming events of my life. Our show is such a family affair. Q: And now you are on tour. You’ve revisited the gag-a-minute cornfield?  Horn: You don’t know what you have until an audience arrive. And when you are in previews for Broadway, you are lucky if you get to make two script changes a day. They knock the pen out of your hand and tell you you’re done. We were not done.  We came up with some things we wanted to say differently on the road. There are a lot of new jokes. Q: New jokes? Give up a couple for our readers.  Horn: Peter says to Beau, “Remember Grandpa’s last words to us before he died? ‘Are you boys still holding the ladder?'” And there are a couple of new bipartisan political jokes. Here’s one: “We’re in a small town where they think that Roe vs. Wade is just an argument about the best way to cross a small river.” That joke tells the audience that this is a story about coming together and we’re not going to be divisive. O’Brien: We were in Nashville and there were all those people who probably voted for Donald Trump and yet they found our show funny and touching. I don’t know that they knew how subversive we were being. That’s my favorite thing that theater can do. Q: I believe this show grew out of an original idea to turn the “Hee Haw” TV show into a musical, which the Chicago director Gary Griffin was originally going to direct. Horn: That’s right.  The “Hee Haw” idea didn’t end up working in the end but the basic idea stuck in my craw. The world has changed after “Tootsie,” which began in Chicago, and then Trump was elected. I am married to a Southerner and I wanted to write a new book musical about opening your heart to people who are different from you, so you can grow. The cast of the North American tour of “Shucked,” in Chicago at the CIBC Theatre. (Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman) Q: Hence, you got “Shucked.” Very innovative marketing campaign, title, corn and all. Nobody knew what it was right up until opening. O’Brien: I said, “Let’s just put up a picture of a piece of corn and not tell anyone what the show is about.” It became hip. I ended up wearing a corn suit in Times Square. Horn: The “k” sound is just funny. I didn’t want some square title. Original musicals can be scary for people because they are used to buying tickets to shows with material repurposed from other media. So we had to have our own thing. If people didn’t know or don’t want to say “Shucked,” they can at least still ask for the corn musical. Q: It seems ideal for the road. The tour is doing well. It is a very heartland musical. Unlike some shows, we don’t condescend to the heartland. We embrace it with a wink. I think that has a lot to do with Shane and Brandy’s music. Q: What are you guys doing next? Horn: Well, I am working on an idea for a “Shucked” movie. Disney’s “Hercules” is opening in London in June. Trevor Noah and I are doing a musical together. There’s a play version of “What’s Up, Doc?” O’Brien: I’ve never been busier in my life. I am doing Ibsen in London in April and working on a new production of “The Sound of Music.” What a title! Q: Just like yours. And you both are attesting to the quality of the touring cast? O’Brien: Totally the equal of the New York company. You will love the people we have. Through Jan. 19 at the CIBC Theatre, 18 W. Monroe St.; www.broadwayinchicago.com Chris Jones is a Tribune critic. [email protected]