Sun. Nov. 18

 Once, we thought we were a collector of sorts, owing to the thousands of LPs, CDs and hundreds of books and comic books. Then, we realized we were mostly just a stockpiler, unable to shed stuff when stuff needed to be shed. We since took the pledge and try - sometimes not always succesfully - to keep the piles and shelves under control. But we have a good friend who is a bonafide collector of all things pop culture - dating back to god knows when, and specializing in '50s and '60s stuff. He has rooms in his house for certain parts of his collection; he has lots of what he's accumulated warehoused for, well, we're not sure what the future use it. But, for some reason, it drives his soul, takes him down memory lane and serves a useful purpose. Which brings us to "The Rosenbach Company: A Musical," which is a story of  Abe and Phillip Rosenbach, at one point the two most famous dealers in rare books and artifacts in the country. Ben Katchor (in photo) a graphic artist, and composer Mark Mulcahy (former lead singer of Miracle Legion) have written this musical (Mulchahy also sings in it), which considers the obessive nature of collecting, the relationship between cultural and commercial pursuits and the brothers' significance as the owners of the world's great literary treasures. In other words: What is the value we place on stuff? Stuff we know we can't take with us. Stuff we hope that others might care for - or  perhaps they'll just dump to the highest bidder. Variety.com calls "The Rosenbach Company" "thrilling, chamring and altogether a knockout." See for yourself when it comes to the Jewish Theatre of New England at the Sam Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community for two shows, closing today Sunday Nov. 18 at 2. Tickets: $28.

333 Nahanton St., Newton, 617-965-5226 www.lsjcc.org