Thanks to having three sisters who liked watching musicals, Rob Stack, ’07, grew up watching them too. As a kid, he found himself drawn to “Grease 2.”
“I know. It’s a horrible movie with a campy, cliché depiction of high school,” he says. “But, I loved every minute of it. I sang all of the songs, and even tried to turn my bike into a motorcycle.”
After that, he was bitten by the musical theater bug, and, in sixth grade, he started acting and enrolled in his first drama class.
“When you perform a show, it becomes a living, breathing thing,” he says. “It’s always changing — the cast, the audience, content, state-of-mind, etc. It’s very exciting and kind of a high. I love challenges and roles that stretch me beyond what I know and am comfortable with.”
And, his latest role has definitely stretched him out of his comfort zone. In addition to the usual acting and singing, Stack also has to play guitar and perform a striptease for the audience as Hugh in “Spank! The Fifty Shades Parody,” which runs through March 23 at The Abbey in Orlando.
Much closer to his comfort zone is his day gig, playing a crab in the “Finding Nemo: The Musical” live show at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Performing in two different shows each day has been challenging, but Stack has figured out how to balance his busy schedule.
“I only do five things on my work days: ‘Nemo’ in the morning, gym in the afternoon, ‘Spank’ in the evening, family in the evening and then sleep!” he explains. “On my days off, I’m spending time with my family and keeping up on ‘The Walking Dead.’ Love that show.”
Stack says he chose to attend UCF for many reasons — a big one being that it offered a B.F.A. in musical theater.
“The UCF musical theater program was such an amazing experience for me,” he explains. “First of all, I met my wife there. But, I also met a crucial network of very talented friends and colleagues who I still keep in touch with today. I enjoyed it so much because it’s such a well-put-together program. They have excellent professors, a great curriculum, and they mount fantastic productions every semester.”
As a student, Stack performed in many of those productions, including “Pippin,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “The Visit,” and “The Boyfriend.”
In addition, he and his wife, Andrea (Dunn), ’07, performed together as love interests Brad and Janet in the UCF’s production of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
“It was the most fun I have ever had on stage,” he says. “It was such a wonderful team of people, from the production team to the cast. We all felt like rock stars! I’m sure you heard about it… It was legendary.”
BEHIND THE CURTAIN
Q. What’s your current job title?
A. Performer/carpenter/husband/dad/badass
Q. Why do you do what you do?
A. I’ve been performing in productions since sixth grade. This is the life I know. This is what I love. This is what I feel I’m good at. Performing has been the logical choice for me since I began. While others dreamed of careers in medicine or business, I knew that this was what I wanted to be doing.
Q. How did you find/get the role for “Spank?”
A. Actually, a couple of my friends read the role breakdowns that were posted and sent it to me. The role required me to play guitar, look good in a suit and possess great comic timing. Me, me and me! I knew what the books were about, so I could only imagine how much fun it would be to parody the story. So, I auditioned and got the role.
Q. Have you read the “Fifty Shades” books?
A. I’m still trying to read the first one. Ugh.
Q. What’s it like performing the show every night? Does it ever get boring?
A. Never. The content is so crazy and outrageous, I don’t think I could ever get bored with it. The show is also so non-stop, that I don’t have a free second once I walk on stage. My time backstage is consumed with costume changes, getting props and making sure my hair looks good. The audience plays a huge factor in this show. They are the fourth character. They laugh at something different every night. Therefore, it’s always changing the energy, pace and feel of the whole show.
Q. What’s been the best part of playing Hugh so far?
A. The free bar tab. Just kidding! I love performing the show. We have a fantastic team of people behind us who make it a wonderful experience. The cast is fantastic. So good, in fact, I have a hard time not breaking character and laughing on stage. Sometimes I just have to, though. Andrea (Canny) [above, left] and Alice (Rix) [above, right] are so funny, and the circumstances we’re in are just so absurd! I love it. And the audiences have been very appreciative. VERY.
Q. What’s been your most embarrassing moment on stage?
A. I have a lot. Falling during a tap solo in “The Boyfriend,” and dancing in a dance recital when I was 18 while the rest of the class was 5-year-olds. The most embarrassing, I think, was when I fell out of the crab at “Finding Nemo” during a live show. The crab is a huge shell on wheels where the performer sits inside while wearing a red crab costume complete with claws and a facemask. Well, I fell out of it one day and couldn’t stand up because my hands were in giant claws. So, I literally had to roll off the stage while guiding the shell back into the wing. So embarrassing.
Q. What’s your favorite musical to watch?
A. No one in particular. I’m a sucker for Sondheim. His stuff is always very moving and poignant to life. His music is so beautiful, I can’t take it sometimes.
Q. What’s your dream job/role?
A. My wife and I would love to own a theatre company one day in a thriving town somewhere in the New England area. We daydream a lot. Owning a furniture business would be great too! (We like to build furniture as a hobby.) Or, building custom acoustic guitars. (I do that too. I actually started doing that at UCF as an independent study.)
Q. Anything else we should know?
A. I have $42 in overdue library charges at UCF. I still get emails from them.
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