With Hank Rion’s production of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame: The Musical” opening Friday at Melbourne’s Henegar Center, it seems the director knows no fear.
First off, there’s the notion of bringing to a community theater a musical with such a dark story, complete with smallpox and wars.
Then there’s wrangling more than 100 people to act, play in the pit orchestra, sing in the choir or help backstage.
Oh, and don’t forget the Latin – Rion is over-the-moon ecstatic over the choir singing in Latin.
“I have directed a lot of shows and I have never just sat there and listened to the cast sing and have my jaw fall open,” Rion says as he took a rare break from his job as artistic director for the Henegar. “It’s one of the most beautiful scores I think I’ve ever worked on in my life.”
The musical is based on the 1996 Disney animated feature film. The music, much of it new for the stage version, is composed by the incomparable Alan Menken, a Disney favorite who also composed music for “Aladdin,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast.” Lyrics are by Stephen Schwartz, the musical genius behind “Wicked,” “Godspell” and “Pippin.”
The book for the stage musical is by Peter Parnell. Like the film, of course, the story comes from the 1831 Victor Hugo novel.
Rion says that although most of the music comes from the Disney movie, the story follows the dark-toned Hugo story.
“The show doesn’t shy away from those darker elements,” Rion says. “It has amazing heart with this character of Quasimodo.”
Set in 15th-century Paris, the musical revolves around Quasimodo, deformed since birth, and Esmeralda, a beautiful gypsy, who have both taken sanctuary in the Cathedral of Notre Dame. In it, there are life-and-death moments and sinister threats against social outcasts.
Rion calls the musical “grown-up Disney.” But he says everyone, no matter what age, can relate: “Everyone has felt like an outcast before.”
As the Henegar’s artistic director since 2013, Rion has brought not only big productions into the 500-seat theater, but also staged in its second-floor black-box theater some more off-beat productions of provocative plays such as “Spring Awakening,” “Venus in Fur” and “Hand to God.”
Moreover, the Henegar has been the testing ground three times for musicals waiting to break into theaters around the country.
The Henegar ventured into new territory when it became the first community theater to produce the musical theater version of John Waters’ “Cry Baby.” On that production, Rion worked with the show’s librettist and composer, who flew from New York City to Melbourne to see first-hand their agreed-upon changes, made with the hope that more theaters throughout the country would pick up the musical.
He also got the rare permission to stage “Witches of Eastwick: The Musical,” which in turn led to getting permission to stage “The Hunchback of Notre Dame: The Musical.”
Rion’s request of Music Theatre International, a licensor for musicals and plays, to do “Witches” was eventually approved by Cameron Mackintosh himself. In the process, Rion brought up the idea of doing “Hunchback.”
Surprisingly, “Hunchback” premiered in Berlin; Disney Theatrical’s first musical to premiere outside the U.S. It ran there for three years and eventually was produced at a few other regional theaters including the famous Paper Mill Playhouse and La Jolla Playhouse; but the show never made it to Broadway.
Rion suggested letting a smaller venue in a smaller area mount a production of the musical.
“Disney Theatrical got back to me and says they’d love for us to do it,” he says. “So they’ve been guiding us. And it’s my continuing challenge to do new things in our area. And always, working on new material is something I love.”
It’s no secret that Disney is particular about how its properties are perceived. So it’s not surprising that they would be pretty hands-on with the Henegar’s production of a seldom-produced musical.
“Their contracts are very specific,” Rion says. “They don’t want anything duplicated from the movie or other theatrical productions. So I’ve tried to be as clever as possible with the blocking and using non-conventional items.”
The show retains its spectacle thanks to Josh Huss’ lighting design and David Robertson’s scenic design, the hallmark of which is an 18-by-18-foot stained glass window in the cathedral.
There are almost 250 costumes including some 500 separate pieces. Designer Vanessa Glenn has stepped up to the plate on that one.
Glenn has built many of those costumes. But she does have a crew of volunteers – two lead seamstresses that “really rock it,” she says, and about a half-dozen others who do some hand sewing, cutting and laying out of patterns.
The most daunting to design for are the male actors, she says; they have the most costume changes. Those changes have to be easy, she says, and still true to the historical period.
“This has probably been my most challenging show since I started here,” Glenn says. “It’s a lot of fun, though. Not a dull moment. And I’m also on stage.”
The role of Quasimodo is portrayed by Dillon Giles, who turns 22 the week after the show closes.
Giles typically has been cast in roles demanding both dramatic heft and a splendid voice. At Cocoa Village Playhouse, he was Tony in “West Side Story” and Perchik in “Fiddler on the Roof.” Last season, he was the Scarecrow in the Henegar’s “Wizard of Oz.”
Now, he twists his body into the role of the deformed hunchback. This physicality of the role is the most challenging part for him.
“Though I don’t do much dancing, there are a lot of acrobatics climbing-wise, hunching over while singing. And I have to get those really high notes,” he says.
Then there is the tough personal challenge met by Rion. “Hunchback” is the sixth show he has directed, back-to-back, since being diagnosed last summer with thyroid cancer.
Right before the dress rehearsal for “Witches of Eastwick,” he had his thyroid removed. While rehearsing “A Christmas Story” he underwent radioactive iodine treatment; and he’s recently begun taking synthroid, which replaces hormones normally produced by the thyroid.
During all of it, he never missed a curtain speech. He says his cast and crew have put him “back on his feet.”
And so has “The Hunchback of Notre Dame: The Musical.” One of the show’s themes – struggling against all odds – resonates loudly for him.
“The musical shows how one can overcome personal struggles, be empowered and be yourself,” he says. “I think the moral of the story is for everyone.”
“The Hunchback of Notre Dame: The Musical” is at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays, March 10 through 26, at the Henegar Center, 625 E. New Haven Ave., Melbourne. Tickets are $16 to $26. Call 321-723-8698 or visit Henegar.org.