INTERVIEW: ‘Megabytes! The Musical’ navigates struggles of tech world
Morris Bobrow, the man behind such comedy revues as Shopping! The Musical and Foodies! The Musical, is back with a brand-new show that pokes fun at the struggles of modern-day technology. Over the course of two-dozen songs, the assembled cast at the Shelton Theater in San Francisco dissect the many trials and tribulations that the world encounters when using email, smartphones and the Internet.
Megabytes! The Musical is a tongue-in-cheek criticism of society’s penchant for technological obsession and bewilderment. Bobrow’s songs touch upon the commitment needed to push “SEND” on the keypad and the difficulties one faces when calling a technology helpline to solve a problem.
“I’ve written quite a few shows, a lot of revues about specific subjects, topics like shopping or travel or things like that,” Bobrow said in a recent phone interview. “In the last couple of years, people suggested, ‘Why don’t you write a show about tech?’ And they would suggest various ideas, and I’d say, ‘Well, I think that’s been done. That’s been done. That’s not that interesting.’ And then eventually I just started noting ideas that popped into my head, and eventually I did come up with a sheet full of ideas and topics about how tech today annoys us and frustrates us and drives us crazy.”
Bobrow, who also directed the production, wanted to highlight instances that challenge users of phones and computers, and he does this with humorous observations about human behavior.
“I came up with about an hour and a quarter’s worth of material of songs, all comedy songs and sketches, a revue about tech, about living with tech,” he said. “So I hope people will be able to relate to it.”
Most of the songs in the show are from first-hand examples that Bobrow has experienced in his own life. One of them audience members will surely identify with: the obstacles of setting a new password. His song on the matter talks about the need to have one letter, one number, one lowercase letter, one symbol, etc., etc.
Another topic involves that dreaded “SEND” button.
“You go to send an email, and the scariest key to hit is ‘SEND’ because it shows commitment,” he said. “You can’t get it back. It’s out there on the Internet. You can amend later on, but it’s sort of that frightening moment when you hit that ‘SEND’ button. There’s all kinds of things like sitting on hold when you’re told the customer service person is not available. ‘Please hold. You’ll be next to talk to.’ And they play music that is so dreadful that you just feel like hanging up. It seems to me that they almost design the music to make it so frustrating that you’ll hang up, so they won’t have to pay anybody to help you. There are things like if you have a tech problem, you should call an 8-year-old because that’s the person who can give you the best advice.”
Another number in the revue, which continues with performances twice a week through March, is about tech users living vicariously through other people’s posts. It’s a number about trolling, Facebook and social media in general.
“We tend to live other people’s lives,” Bobrow commented. “We’re sitting there reading this one did that. This one did this. This one did that, so I have people sitting there on the Internet reading the posts of various people and saying, ‘Gee, what a great day I had today in my life.’ We don’t have lives anymore. We live through other people these days.”
Bobrow was able to secure the theater and cast for this show based on his past successes. His many revues over the years have been met with healthy runs and dedicated audience members. His Foodies! musical ran for six years. Ditto for Shopping! The Musical. Going back to the 1980s, Party for One ran for seven years. He’s hoping for similar success for Megabytes!
“I have done quite a few shows through the years, and fortunately a lot of them have run for quite a few years,” he said. “This cast is the same one I’ve used for a couple of my previous shows, Shopping! The Musical and the travel show, Are We Almost There? And it’s a nice little group. It’s a group they all relate to. They have a great esprit de corps, and we kind of know what we’re thinking in terms of our style and that sort of thing. So it’s the same group, and I think we’re having a lot of fun in rehearsals. And I think we’re going to have a nice time with the production.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Megabytes! The Musical is currently playing the Shelton Theater in San Francisco. Click here for more information and tickets.
