Sure, "You have your classic Disney hero, an underdog, Quasimodo," said Riley Costello, who is directing "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" for Hillbarn Theatre, "but in my mind, it's really Esmeralda's show.

"All the action happens because three men fall in love with her, and the effect this amazing woman has over these three men."

Riley Costello, 23, said maybe it's time for him to get a new headshot, but he also said he knows he will be playing high school parts for years.

The three men, in the musical, which is about 60 percent Victor Hugo novel and 40 percent Disney movie, said Costello, are Quasimodo the deformed bell ringer; Phoebus, captain of the Guard, and Frollo, the evil archdeacon.

"Each of the three has a unique point of view," said Costello during a phone interview from Stanford Shopping Center, where he was on an outing with some members of the cast recently. "There is love and acceptance and tolerance. There is using fear as motivation ... ultimately, the show is about humanity. 'What makes a monster, and what makes a man?'

"The audience is left to answer that for themselves.

"It's a classic story," Costello said. "I just love all the different relationships. I am so endeared to all these characters."

Only 23 years old, Costello has already performed on Broadway in several shows, was "Hairspray Live" in NBC and entirely has had an impressive career.

Which got its start, really, at Hillbarn Theatre.

"I started when I was about 8 years old," he said. "I performed a lot around the Bay Area, but most shows were at Hillbarn. I grew up on that stage. It's not a typical proscenium theater. It's really intimate."

That makes some people get nervous, he said, but it seems normal to him.

Costello, in the Bay Area, performed in "Hello, Dolly," "The Music Man, "The Secret Garden," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," and "Big the Musical."

"I played the young Josh part," Costello said. "In 2006, I think. There's a great song in Act 2, a sweet ballad. That's where I got discovered. Somebody saw me, had a connection to Jason Robert Brown (who wrote the music and lyrics for "13") ... and I was in my first Broadway show. I got the opportunity to start my professional career."

"13" the musical was followed by other Broadway parts, usually as an understudy, but it's been a good career, and has included work in Hollywood.

Costello had seen the production of the stage musical "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," because a friend, Chase Brock, was the show's choreographer.

"I was completely overwhelmed with excitement," Costello said. "I sort of became obsessed with the show, and thought I'd love to direct it.

"But, how could that happen? I had so many ideas, so many ways I wanted to tell it."

Then came a lunch with Dan Demers, executive artistic director of Hillbarn Theatre.

"Dan was the person I called when I wanted to direct," said Costello. "I called him, met him. My family is still in the area. I knew him, peripherally.

"I had originally pitched a different show, 'The Secret Garden,' one of my favorite musicals, but another theater in the area was doing it, so we lost the rights. I had lunch with Dan, and he said, 'I think I got the rights for "Hunchback."'

"I thought, 'I've got my shot.'

"'I'm your man,' I told him."

Costello said he "Truly, I can't think of a better show to start my directing career with ... I'm so happy to do it at a place I care about."

Hillbarn is not a big space, but Costello said the show "is fitting really well in the space ... It's the perfect place to do it. The show is so grand, so big, so large, because of its place -- a cathedral. But at the heart of the story, it's about these intimate relationships between these people. You can't hide behind anything, you have to tell the truth, or it won't work."

Email John Orr at johnorr@regardingarts.com