The first piece of Disneyâs Hercules that Chase Brock choreographed was âThe Gospel Truth Part 1ââthe very top of the show. And then he choreographed it again. And then four more times. From the six versions Brock created, audiences will see the ultimate sequence when the Public Works production of Hercules bows August 31 at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park.
âWhen we said, âHow are we going to translate this to the stage?â� thereâs Greek pottery in the film telling the backstoryâwhat would probably be a shadow play if we were doing this indoors,â� Brock explains. âBut doing it at eight oâclock in late August, itâs not completely dark at that point and we donât have full control of the lights, so we really had to find what is our vase. So I came up with six versions.â�
When it comes to the beloved Disney animated film about the Greek god turned mortal and his quest to become a âtrue hero,â� Brock aimed to preserve the energy of the original movie and the need to tell this new musical versionâno matter how many versions it took. âOn a number that our generation has been singing for 20 years [like âZero to Heroâ], you have expectations and ideas of what itâs going to be when it comes to life in three dimensions right in front of you,â� says Brock. âA new song, we have a responsibility to make sure the audience hears every lyric because usually there is some sort of narrative point weâre trying to make clearer or depart from the film. Every audience is only going to have one time to hear it and catch it.â� Brock wonât be pulling out the physical pyrotechnics when you need to absorb new words, but all bets are off with Alan Menken and David Zippelâs familiar tunes.
READ: Meet The Muses Leading Disneyâs Hercules at the Public Theater
With âZero to Hero,â� Brock was looking for âall the things we could do to honor what the animated feature did and take it a step further for the stage,â� he says, which led him to lean into the gospel tradition of that particular song. âIt felt like tambourines were too delicious to ignoreâ� (as you can see in the video above where Brock teaches the full choreography to the songâs dance break).
But this production of Hercules also presented different challenges than any other screen to stage musical adaptation. âWeâre doing a brand new Disney musical comedy on stage in live action and weâre doing a 200-member community pageantâoutdoors,â� says Brock. As part of the Public Theaterâs Public Works program, Hercules, like all Public Works shows, âwidens the idea of who we view as an artist and who we think can be on our stages and what we think community is.â�
And Brockâs choreography capitalizes on the talent in his cast, integrating styles into a mash-up âwhere ancient Greece meets New York City today meets Mars.â�
âThere may be a number in which you see the Passaic High School marching bandâwhich is one of our cameo groupsâalongside eight Equity Broadway stars, alongside 120 members of a community ensemble,â� says Brock. Community members seamlessly weave into the cast; two of the five Muses are community members, as is Pain (while Hades and his other henchman Panic are Broadwayâs Roger Bart and Jeff Hiller, respectively). Six community members make up a dance group called The Cosmos and 14 comprise the puppet corps, nine play Greek gods and dozens play the inhabitants of Thebes.
When Brock steps back to observe his creation, itâs the blur between professional and amateur that feels like success. âIâm really proud of having 200 New Yorkers doing the same steps under the same stars in the last piece of the evening, âA Star Is Born,ââ� he says. âThat moment feels like the transcendent moment, really proving the mission of Public Works.â�
Watch the video above to learn the choreography from Herculesâ� âZero to Hero.â�
