Morris Bobrow's Shopping! The Musical is currently playing in the intimate Shelton Theatre near Union
Square, San Francisco. This clever and sparkling revue is an open end run and is attracting many tourists.
Shopping! The Musical reminds me of those wonderful little revues that used to occur down in the Village in... show more
Morris Bobrow's Shopping! The Musical is currently playing in the intimate Shelton Theatre near Union
Square, San Francisco. This clever and sparkling revue is an open end run and is attracting many tourists.
Shopping! The Musical reminds me of those wonderful little revues that used to occur down in the Village in
New York or the great Billy Barnes shows in Los Angeles. This fast paced one hour and twenty minute song
fest about shopping is performed by four very talented singers who know how to put a song over. Morris
Bobrow who has written and directed numerous musicals, including the recent travel revue Are We Almost
There?. He has devised 24 songs about shopping delivered at an amazing speed.
Bobrow knows how to present the lost art of a musical revue. His parodies are not political but more a social
commentary on the art of shopping. Everyone who sees the revue will identify with some aspect of shopping.
His songs remind me of musical satirist Tom Lehrer.
Shopping! The Musical has hilarious lampoons of shopping at wholesale houses like Costco under the title of
"Shopping with Style," in which a person buys a six year supply of toilet paper or carts his stuff home in a
Bekins truck. "Department Store Blues" is entertaining when the delightful Alison Peltz sings "Who do I have
to screw to get some help?" There is a great country western song sung by Kim Larsen about a macho man
shopping in a hardware store. Kim is also funny as a shy husband trying to buy a birthday gift for his wife at
Victoria Secret.
One of the great side-splitting moments is a non-musical number with Alison Peltz, Kim Larsen and Coley
Grundman in the checkout line at a supermarket. Alison is a customer who goes over the top, checking each
item to the frustration of Kim playing the clerk. It is a sketch that is worthy of Saturday Night Live.
Sara Hauter is first rate in a song about women who are obsessed with buying things from QVC or the Home
Shopping Network. She is also very funny on the song "A Fit Fit" when she sings about an outfit that is "all
about the butt and not looking like a slut." There is a great song about Internet shopping called "Click," sung
well by Alison Peltz. Coley Grundman has a cool natural voice in "Sounding Off," which is about a customer
who is very irritated about canned music in a supermarket. He also has great vocal chops in "May I Help
You?" about a servile salesman trying to sell a lamp to Alison Peltz. Anyone who has been to a street fair
where they sell things you really don't want will appreciate the group singing about the wonders of buying
these goods; even the props are uproarious.
Coley Grundman, Sara Hauter, Kim Larsen and Alison Peltz give polished performances and they know how
to handle this kind of fast paced revue. Musical accompaniment on the piano by Ben Keim is first rate.
Shopping! The Musical is playing in the intimate 55-seat theatre downstairs in the Shelton Theatre, 533
Sutter St. San Francisco on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM. Tickets are $29 general admission and $27 for
seniors and students. You can order tickets only at www.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 800-838-3006
or visit their website at www.shoppingthemusical.com. show less
It was fast paced and funny at times. Otherwise, rather simplistic and a bit shallow... however, all in all we had a good time, so I'm giving it 3 stars. If you wanted to see this musical, go ahead. However, if you would like to see something really great -- this isn't the show for you.
A great show! Funny too ;-) It has a talented cast and they are hilarious. Its about an hour and 20 mins, so you can hit the bars after. I particularly loved the Costco and VS numbers.
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