So after 10 years of challenging dramas, Curious Theatre has now written and mounted its first musical.
Question is, why? Better asked, why this?
This is the life story of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, epitome of the American Dream. This is the proliferation of the megadiscount store, the greatest global retail phenomenon in history, one with profound economic, environmental and human consequences.
But the best that can be said of “Mall*Mart, the Musical” is that Curious is being a very good citizen, of both the theater community and at- large. This is a massive undertaking addressing an important issue, resulting in an original musical made in collaboration with the University of Colorado at Boulder. It’s great experience for a CU creative team numbering more than 50 – including nine student actors and alums.
In every sense, Curious is following the noble mantra, “Think globally, act locally.”
But this deserves serious theatrical consideration. And with every press of a Casio key, “Wall*Mart, the Musical” trivializes and undermines all of its best intentions.
The story “Mall*Mart” tells is replete with environmental sabotage, extortion, corruption, greed and corporate nefariousness. As socially conscious topics go, a theater can’t tackle one much more relevant than this.
If only the creators had faith that audiences would be adequately engaged by the issues without a little “Chicago”-style razzle-dazzle thrown in. And the song-and-dance here is pedantic and condescending.
It doesn’t help that Curious again has turned playwriting duties over to Joan Holden. Her hyperbolic “huzzah” narrative style can turn any heavy subject as light as air. Her approach sabotaged the dramatic potential of Curious’ “Paris on the Platte.” Her “Mall*Mart” script is far more complex and substantive, but she again uproots a grounded subject with her presentationalism, preventing full emotional impact.
The first act tells the whirlwind, rags-to-riches tale of the thinly disguised Sam Walton (backwoods, budding retail magnate “Walt Samson”). Consumers, weary from war rationing, are eager to buy anything with a switch or a sale tag. The storytelling here is as fanciful and fast-moving as an extended version of “Gee, Officer Krupke” – only the songs here pale next to those in “West Side Story.”
Still, it’s fascinating to see how Walton’s retail concepts were once seen as revolutionary in small-town America – self-service, advertising, in-store entertainment, slogans, below-cost pricing, centralized distribution and more.
Holden also fairly shows how this smilin’ visionary undercut vendors, competitors and employees alike. Samson is charmer and a sexist, a carney and a liar – even to his wife – all traits brought to believable light by excellent newcomer Brad Evans.
The first act, spanning 1942-62, ends with a nice twist that viably bridges us into a second, very distinct play. After intermission, it’s 2007 and we’re back where “Mall*Mart” began, in Smithers, Ark.
We now see several new storylines play out in a small town where a proposed superstore will replace a beloved marsh. It’s a similar scenario to when a Wal-Mart nearly was allowed to consume a small lake in Olde Town Arvada.
The great Marcus Waterman and Megan Van de Hey embody Mall*Mart’s modern, shark-infested corporate team. They hire roustabouts to manipulate public opinion in Mall*Mart’s favor and sabotage opposition efforts. We see how two families are frayed by the issue – The torn mayor has an activist daughter; and an impoverished wife leaves her shop-aholic husband only to discover the only job for a woman like her is at the very Mall*Mart that brought her so much domestic conflict.
Act II is substantive and fair to both sides, but it’s emotionally distant and diminished by hyperbole that grossly overplays the stakes. There are 6,700 Wal-Marts, so while this one store would have a profound impact on this community, it’s but a blip in the corporate scheme of things, something the script eventually admits.
In the end, “Mall*Mart, the Musical” is far too long and grows numbingly redundant. Its running time might be just right if not for all those rote, momentum-killing musical interruptions.
“Mall*Mart” would have been just fine.
“Mall*Mart, the Musical” is cheap as a blue-light special.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
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“Mall*Mart: The Musical!”
MUSICAL|Curious Theatre and University of Colorado at Boulder|Written by Joan Holden and Bruce Barthol|Directed by Chip Walton|Ensemble includes C. Kelly Leo, Michael Morgan, John Jurcheck, Megan Van De Hey and Marcus Waterman|THROUGH JUNE 13|At the Acoma Center, 1080 Acoma St.|8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays (2-for-1 Thursdays)|2 hours, 40 minutes|$24-$28 |303-623-0524 or curioustheatre.org
