Review: SHIPPING: A MUSICAL at Elysian Theatre

It’s hard to succinctly describe Shipping, a new musical by Jen Jackson and Louisa Kellogg with music by Brian Heveron-Smith. On one hand, it’s a scrappy little treat— a cobbled-together weave of local comedy talents that filled the Elysian Theatre with non-stop laughs from beginning to end. On the other hand, right from its opening number, “Weird Little Sand Girl”, this show is a bonafide musical theatre gem that has the potential to pack crowds into the Pantages Theatre and rake in profits when licensed out in “Junior” and “School Edition” versions. The story follows Izzy Goodspeed, a young Quaker woman on Nantucket who is told she must choose her fate from one of the “Three W’s” (becoming a wife, a widow, or a wart-covered sea witch). After meeting The Barnacle Bitch (whose introductory number brings the house down when performed by Susan Glynn), Izzy chooses the fourth W, asking the hag to turn her into a whale. Though she loves her aquatic life as a member of a whale pop girl group, Izzy’s acceptance is challenged when the other whales realize she is a member of the Goodspeed family, famed for making harpoons.

Every number in the show is a showstopper. As Addy Goodspeed, Izzy’s devout older sister, Rashawn Scott brings a powerful voice that can carry legitimate musical ballads and then turn on a gospel flair for upbeat dance routines. Scott’s vocal prowess adds a lot to the show, but she also holds her own, landing laughs in her scenes opposite her betrothed captain (hilariously portrayed by Andrew Knox). Ryan Asher and Alison Banowsky are a perfect pair, first playing stern Quaker women, Chastity and Providence, and later appearing as members of the whale girl group. Asher’s bawdiness is perfectly complimented by Banowsky’s timidity and neither shies away from the stupidity of the script. The audience was particularly delighted by Meaghan Strickland’s portrayal of Scooch, a crab trying his hand at stand-up comedy. Somehow, Scooch’s narrative was able to standout as comedic relief within an already gut-bustlingly funny show. As Izzy, Jordan Lee Cohen holds the entire thing together. She plays the role with genuine fervor and inhibition that allows her to carry the story while still landing some of the biggest laughs of the night.

The entire cast is delivering at the top of their game, but it certainly helps that Jackson, Kellogg, and Heveron-Smith have written a brilliant script with catchy, memorable songs. “Today Sucks Ass” allowed the cast to deliver an emo anthem that (genuinely) rivals anything going on in American Idiot at the Mark Taper Forum. “Now You’re Speaking My Language” provides a much-needed moment of feel-good mushiness toward the end of the show. Pulling from such disparate genres as sea shanties and burlesque routines, Heveron-Smith’s score is a masterpiece that elevates the humor of the whole evening. With clean choreography by Arne Gjelten and direction by Jen Jackson, I really can’t imagine anything being done to improve this show.

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