What the Heck is Jollyship the Whiz Bang?

I'm really starting to expand my horizons beyond the high-profile Broadway musicals. This season I've seen quite a few Off-Broadway shows, and I've even begun my first forays into wilds of Off-Off-Broadway. And I'm finding that there's a great big world of live entertainment out there beyond the confines of 6th and 9th Avenues.

The last time I was in New York, I was supposed to see a show with my fellow blogger Patrick Lee (check out his blog at Just Shows to Go You). We had planned on seeing Glory Days, but it closed on opening night, and efforts to line up a replacement show were fraught with peril and misunderstanding. So I told Patrick that this time I would place myself entirely in his hands. I had already seen all the musicals I was interested in, so I told him I was game for anything he chose, even if we'd be sitting on folding chairs in a church basement watching Krapp's Last Tape in Swahili. Well, as it turns out Patrick's selection turned out to be a musical.

Of sorts.

How to describe Jollyship the Whiz Bang? Passing Strange meets "Kukla, Fran and Ollie"? Avenue Q meets Mutiny on the Bounty? The Talking Heads meets Mr. Rogers? Whatever, Jollyship the Whiz Bang is a deliciously ridiculous rock-concert-based musical with a pulsating series of songs. The plot, though really irrelevant, concerns a ship of pirates initially looking for the elusive Party Island. But as I said, the story is incidental, serving merely as a frame for some truly silly hipster humor and some terrific indie rock songs.

The cast is a combination of band members and other performers manipulating crudely carved puppets most analogous to the citizens of Make-Believe on "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood." At first the show came off a bit lame, but once the beer kicked in (did I mention there's a bar?) I began to have a grand old time. And it features some wonderfully arch performances from lead singer and co-creator Nick Jones, as well as Steven Boyer and Julie Lake in a diverting series of cameos and supporting roles.

These days, whenever a musical opens, there's immediate chatter about whether the show is bound for bigger and better things (i.e. Broadway). I heard it from numerous groups in the audience at the other new musical I saw that weekend, Saved. (See my review later this week.) Well, Jollyship is the sort of show that really shouldn't play anywhere except a small club-like venue like Ars Nova, where it's running until June 28th. This intentionally ridiculous show benefits greatly from an intimate atmosphere and readily available alcohol, and it really doesn't want to be anything more than it is.

And what's wrong with that?