Some see the Walt Disney Co. as an interloper that’s overrun the Denver Performing Arts Complex with New Yorkers we’ll never see again after “The Little Mermaid” closes at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House on Sept. 9.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Instead, Disney has put more than 100 local musicians and theater technicians to work, offering summer employment representing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cumulative salaries.
While the show is playing in Denver, the music is being performed by an 18-person orchestra that includes 14 local players plus two substitutes. The running crew numbers 40 locals – that includes stagehands, wardrobe, hair and makeup.
An additional 40 were hired for July’s load-in and, presumably, will be back for the load- out. There are also three production assistants and 12 costume stitchers. Not to mention 100 ushers – all paid.
And of course that does not include our own Sierra Boggess, the Denver native who’s the star of the show.
Most local employees are done when the Denver run is completed. One who’s not is keyboard player Aron Accurso, a 1997 graduate of Overland High School who actually counts as one of the New York-based employees Disney brought with them from New York for the run.
Accurso has been with “The Little Mermaid” since he was hired to play for the auditions in October. He is one of four New York musicians in the Denver cast, but he says it was just a “happy coincidence” he was sent off to his hometown. Accurso, the conductor, a drummer and two other keyboardists will play on when the show debuts on Broadway in December.
“It’s great because I get to wake up and have breakfast with my mom and dad again,” Accurso said. “It’s just great to be back here, and working.”
Accurso grew up performing for groups including KidSkits, the Colorado Children’s Chorale, CenterStage and the Denver Civic before choosing to pursue music at St. Olaf College.
“He is an amazing young man,” said choreographer Debbie Stark, who worked with Accurso on shows for four years here. “He’s very talented, and so humble.”
When Disney came to Denver to launch its first national touring production of “The Lion King” in 2002, a Denver Post analysis estimated the economic impact on the city to be between $48 million and $58 million. “The Little Mermaid” won’t approach those figures because this run is three weeks shorter, but Accurso is thrilled Disney has brought such an economic and employment windfall to the city.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” he said. “And I must say, the local people have been fantastic in every way. They are of equal caliber to their counterparts in New York.”
A record effort
With “The Last Five Years” playing in both Fort Collins and Aspen, it’s worth noting that the Sh-k-boom record label came into existence with that show’s cast recording in 2001. It was launched by Sherie Rene Scott (the show’s star) and her husband, Kurt Deutsch. Sh-k-boom now produces everything from cast recordings like “Legally Blonde” and “The Drowsy Chaperone” to solo projects by Broadway stars like Adam Pascal and Patti Lupone.
“My husband and I are both theater geeks, but when we were growing up in the Midwest without the Internet, our only access to theater was cast albums,” said Scott, who’s in Denver starring as Ursula in “The Little Mermaid.”
Sh-k-boom already has earned five Grammy nominations.
Briefly …
If you think it’s getting “Loud” at Heritage Square Music Hall, just wait: The seventh installment in this long-running series of pop-music revues, “Too Old to Be Loud,” has been extended through Nov. 4. And it comes back Feb. 1-17, followed in May by “Loud” No. 8, a best-of called “Retro Loud” (303-279-7800) …
Curious Theatre took an odd and unsuccessful stab at the Wal-Mart phenomenon last season, but it sounds like an upcoming off-Broadway musical will come a lot closer to hitting the mark. “Walmartopia” is a musical political satire opening Sept. 3 in New York. It was a big hit at the 2006 New York Fringe Festival because it was a tougher and more direct skewering of the world’s largest employer. Its premise: A single mom (and Wal-Mart employee) who speaks out against working conditions is transported with her daughter to 2036, when Wal-Mart rules the planet …
The local handicapped theater company PHAMALy will bring back the most impactful production in its history, the circus-freak musical “Side Show,” as its summer 2008 offering. It will be staged much earlier in the summer (opening June 6) so that it can showcase the National Performing Arts Convention to be held in Denver at that time.
This week’s theater openings
WED-AUG. 25 | Thunder River’s “Always … Patsy Cline” | CARBONDALE
FRI-OCT. 6 | Theatre Group’s “Torch Song Trilogy” (Phoenix Theatre)
FRI-SEPT. 15 | E-Project’s “On Golden Pond” | LAKEWOOD
FRI-SEPT. 22 | Rocky Mountain Rep’s “My Way” | GRAND LAKE
This week’s theater closings
TODAY | Backstage’s “The Smell of the Kill” | BRECKENRIDGE
TODAY | PHAMALy’s “Urinetown” (at Denver Center’s Space Theatre)
TODAY | Lake Dillon’s “Rocky Horror Show” | DILLON
FRI | Creede Repertory Theatre’s “To Fool the Eye”
SAT | Creede Repertory Theatre’s “Urinetown” | CREEDE
SAT | Theatre Aspen’s “Moonlight and Magnolias”
SAT | Studio 802’s “Hamletmachine” | COLORADO SPRINGS
SAT | Colorado State University Summer Festival’s “Scapin” | FORT COLLINS
AUG. 26 | California Actors Theatre’s “An Evening With Stephen Sondheim” | LONGMONT
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
