Nathan Daugherty

I have the great privilege to be the director of the “SAFI Taffy Show Chorus”. The group is simple – it’s 15 of the best singers I could find. Some of them come from huge performance backgrounds, and some are just starting and have raw talent. My goal with this group is to teach thecorrect way to perform as I have learned over the years.

This group has evolved into something spectacular. We already have 5 gigs booked, and our own spring concert scheduled for May 1st at the SAFI theatre. Things are going great for us.

So look out for this group of kids. They are some of the most amazing performers you can ever see (for $5, that is!). All of our shows cost $10 or less, so everyone can afford to come. We outreach to the community so EVERYONE’s day can be lifted up.

Come to one of our shows…or even a rehearsal. It’s quite incredible to see what happens when 15 star performers put their minds all in one place.

Last night, Taryn and I went to go see Cirque Dreams: Illumination at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center (or to be PC, “The Straz Center”). It was for Taryn’s birthday. I have to say, the show was SPECTACULAR. I’ve seen three different Cirque du Soliel performances before and this one was one of the best. It was quite the interesting story. It had something to do with life on the street….but in this story, the streets had people dressed as parking cones and everyone’s a contortionist.

We had fun though. I always get the urge to want to just jump on the stage and sing with them…I don’t like to flip around all over the place.

Tonight we have “Love and Deception” rehearsal. This is such a unique show – seeing as we have award winning plays, musicals, and even original work! I can’t wait.

Life is good.

It seems like just yesterday we performed The Waaay off Broadway Revue. Our last show of February was at Aston Gardens Assisted Living in Oldsmar. We were all happy it was over, but excited for a month of rehearsals leading up to our FINAL two shows in March. Well, time seemed to kick me in the pants because the show is tomorrow. We have had about…I want to say….two rehearsals. Granted, all the performances seemed to be just right at our dress rehearsal last night. There were a couple flaws in lines here and there, but nothing too out of the ordinary. I will say that the run of the Producers with Culver was something that will always be remembered. Putting me up on the state with TWO members of the Dow Family is a disaster waiting to happen (but one of those disasters where you’re like “Oh, I think there WERE casualties, but it’s funny to watch!”). But hey, we had fun and made people cry of laughter. Job completed.

I feel proud every night to call myself a director in this troupe. Yeah, I sing. Whatever. But, I have felt more pride in what I do by just directing these people. I know the main goal in my life is to become a singer, but from what I have been told, I am a great teacher/director; Lil tells me that all the time. I love doing both – so why not actually do both?

Everything is going quite swell in my life, I might add. The whole USF situation is coming along – Taryn and I will be entering as General Studies majors so we can get our regular classes out of the way.

We’ve been talking lately about how hard it’s going to be to balance a job, SAFI, and school at the same time. You know what I say? Bring it on.

I’m wanting to get into the habit of actually blogging, and I think that’s semi possible, seeing as I’m at a computer all day when I work. Working is quite funny, especially when you do what I do. But what do I do is the question? I’m pretty much a jack-of-all trades. I come to the Longbar/SAFI office every morning, and I have no idea what my projects are for the day. I could be editing videos, making phone calls, or organizing spreadsheets. Who knows. All I know is….it’s the best job ever. I enjoy doing what I do. It’s relaxing and fun. No complaints here.

Oh, and the show chorus is going quite well. I got myself an amazing cast to direct, and they are doing nothing but awesome things at every rehearsal. We have 2 performances of the “Waaay Off Broadway Revue” this weekend, and the show chorus is closing each performance with Seasons of Love from RENT. Yeah, it’s the cliche number that evvvvveryone closes their shows with, but it’s something that we have almost perfected. About 7 people showed up to a small dress rehearsal last night, and even THAT sounded good.

Things are going great. I love that.

So, I went ahead and changed just about everything with my blog. Daily posts are soon to come, so keep watching. In the meantime,

“Music – The one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.”