Thrift Store: The Musical

Everybody and everything are truly half-off in this contemporary comedy and drama set in the year 2008, during the height of America’s Great Recession.

Sally Swanson has lost her job and is about to lose her home. Desperate for work, she takes a speculative position managing a small thrift store located at a neighborhood church. Father Paul, the parish priest, strives to feed the rising number of poor and homeless through funds generated by the charity shop.

Soon bargain hunters, hoarders, drama queens and fashionistas discover the fledgling shop and they bring the comical and intriguing world of thrifting to life.

Just when things begin to stabilize, Sally is derailed once again when a for-profit, big box thrift store threatens to open across the street. Everyone’s talents are put to the test. Father Paul confesses that he secretly loves to sew and he teams up with one of the shop’s volunteers, a young homeless girl named Claire. When their innovative fashion line takes off, lives are transformed and all are given a second chance.

History of the Show

With support from the Honolulu Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts, “Thrift Store: The Musical” was produced in 2014 with a cast of 12 and 5 accompanying musicians. It was presented to an audience of 225. Audience members had fun wearing their treasured thrift, vintage and resale fashions to the show.

With input from dramaturge Elise Dewsberry and Scott Guy of the New Musicals Initiative, the show has been further developed since its inception.

Susanne Sims

Susanne Sims is a book writer, lyricist and producer. Her first stage play “Conversations with Todd” is a spoof on Neale Donald Walsch’s best selling trilogy “Conversations with God”. It was performed at the Artesia Amphitheater on the Big Island of Hawaii. Her second play is a comedy and drama entitled “Thrift Store: The Musical”. The story emerged from her experiences in opening and operating a thrift store. Susanne is the author of several books including “Underwater Acts of Kindness”, a children’s story that addresses the growing problem of plastic pollution in our oceans.