CINCINNATI — Fiona the hippo's fame is international. She's appeared in books and on merchandise, but in November her story of survival will become a musical.
Fiona: The Musical premieres at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati in Over-the-Rhine on November 29.
"It's this beautiful idea that we all need a little help to survive and some of us start out with a little bit less of an advantage," said D. Lynn Meyers, producing artistic director. "It's this idea of everybody coming together to do their best to help one another - whether you're a hippo or a human, we all need a little of that right now."
The musical is a world premiere, being written by local playwright and actress Zina Camblin, with music and lyrics by David Kisor. Both are familiar to Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati and its audiences.
Meyers said the idea came from Camblin a couple years ago.
"She had this one page description and she said 'I think Fiona for your holiday show because your holiday shows are always multi-generational and non-denominational and who does everyone love? They love Fiona,'" she said.
The writing duo has spent time at the zoo and even sent some staff a draft of first act.
Fiona was born six weeks premature in 2017. She weighed 29 pounds.
Zookeepers and staff from Cincinnati Children's provided preemie care like keeping her skin moist, helping regulate her oxygen intake and developing a formula suited to a baby hippo's needs. The last of these was a process of trial, error and discovery.
"She's become this image of a champion," Meyers said."With a little bit of faith and a lot of help, you can become a champion."
The locally-grown musical will premiere in front of audiences of about 2,000 children who get to see it for free - a perfect test audience, Meyers said. But don't expect an oversized hippo costume or mascot.
"This is not dumbed down," she said. The script and songs are still being written and finalized, with Camblin and Kisor regularly writing and testing pieces in the Emsemble Theatre space on Vine Street,
The show is one of two world premieres during Ensemble's 2023-24 season.
The other world premiere is a comedy, written by a previous winner of the Ensemble's Jackie Demaline Regional Collegiate Playwriting Contest. The Steven Srafford comedy "The Match Game" focuses on a dysfunctional family gathering for a birthday party with a hidden agenda. It debuts in April 2024, after reworking from a reading at the Ensemble in summer 2022.
The new season starts with the regional premiere of Heidi Schreck's "What the Constitution Means to Me," in September. It ends with a return of the musical "Hands on a Hardbody."
"That's certainly not by accident," Meyers said. "It's a very welcoming season, it's a season about bringing us back together and unifying us even if we have incredibly different viewpoints. So it's about welcoming us together and figuring this all out."
The season also includes the regional premiere of August Wilson's one-person autobiographical show "How I Learned What I Learned."
Subscriptions are on sale for the five-show season, including "Fiona: The Musical."
