Saturday Special - Shlemiel Crooks

We were given free tickets to Shlemiel Crooks for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: Shlemiel Crooks

Where: Merkin Concert Hall
              Kaufman Music Center
              129 W. 67th St.
              New York, NY

This event took place on March 25, 2018

Me - Shlemiel Crooks was kind of cute. It was  a show about a couple of crooks who wanted to steal the Passover wine. I liked that there were a lot of cute little kids in it. There was one especially cute kid who played the ghost police. The songs were pleasant. However, I don't really remember them now. The dog was kind of annoying. He got on my nerves. I don't really like shows where people play animals. The acting and the singing were good. There wasn't really any dancing in this show. There was a very small set. The show was interesting. That was my favorite part about the show. The show was based on book. I had never heard of or read the book before. Young children would like this show. Over all, it was a very nice show.

Mom - In additon to their Hanukkah show, Merkin Concert Hall also presents a yearly Passover show. This year's show was Shlemiel Crooks. It was based on a book of the same name by Anna Olswanger. The plot which revolves around a couple of inept crooks who want to steal the passover wine is a really a little thin for a full length show, but the children in the audience really seemed to like it. The cast of the show was made up of regulars from Merkin Concert Hall's popular Broadway Playhouse series along with the Kaufman Kids, Kids from Kaufman Music Center's school.The kids were adorable as always  Benjamin Barham-Wiese and Sophia Chesler  particularly shined in their leading roles as Gertie and Berl, a young brother and sister at the center of the action. The show did not delve into holiday traditions as much as this year's Hanukkah show, Judy and the Macabees. However, like the Hannukah show, it did include a bunch of lively songs even if a bit less memorable than the songs in that show.  Although most of the songs were written for the show, Chicken Bone Man was previously written by Berl Oslwanger with additonal words and music by the songwriters of the show.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for this week's Sunday Scoop.