We were lucky to catch up with Darius Thomas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Darius, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

The process of producing musical theatre is not something I was taught how to do. Every step of the way I had to test things out to find my path. The journey from idea to execution took 3 years from my senior year of high school Feb 2016 – to the summer before my senior year of college July 2019.

I remember when I began to write.. I didn’t know where the story was going. I just remember seeing that Hamilton was cool because they were rapping on Broadway and that’s what I wanted to do. I know that sometimes, people don’t have the best comprehension so by combining music with visuals to tell a cohesive story I knew I could move people more than just releasing music.

To begin, I knew I obviously needed a story and songs. So I began to toy with different ideas. I wrote a few lyrics but couldn’t see where it was going so I just went on Youtube looking for an instrumental to spark an idea. That’s when I heard one that, as I listened to it, I saw the story of the song unfold. I took that weekend to write that song. So at this point, I only had 1 full song written. I decided to take that song and poke at it. I began to ask myself, what situations had to happen to get here and where can I take it. As I wrote, the process began to transform me. To be able to tell stories you have to be able to become each character. That forced me to confront things in myself and make a decision on how to move forward. This process helped me move comfortably in my creative power and make more decisions about the story.

Once I felt comfortable with my story. I knew it was time to take it to the stage. At this point, It’s January 2019. I’m a junior in college and I had $2 in my bank account. The thing is, I know how important this story is and all the people it will influence, so regardless I know I need to make it happen. So I do.

The next six months I focus on casting, rehearsals, and finding a venue. On July 26, 2019 I premiered my debut show to a sold out crowd at Synchronicity Theatre.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Darius Thomas. I write and produce musical theatre. I want my people to be free. In order to make than happen I create stories that help them through dark points in their lives. But that’s only the first step, I can’t just tell them to do things.. I also pour into them time and resources to help them get to their goals. The main thing I’m proud of is my ability to create a flow of production quickly. I can take ideas from seeds and easily put processes in place to create the harvest. I believe that in order for people to be free, they have to break out of the fear mindset. By us create a community and a system of creation, that fear can be broken down, and we can just be.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The first show. Originally, the first venue I chose said that I could pay one price up front and when the date came they raised it. The problem was, this was the 2 weeks before the show! So now people have been paying for tickets and we no longer have a venue.

I had two choices, either cancel the show or find another venue. I knew the story was too important to just give up.. So I searched and the week before, I found Synchronicity Theater and booked it.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn negative self talk. You don’t ever realize how powerful you are until you have to be. I do these amazing shows but I still look down on self. I think these seeds are given to us in life to keep us controlled. If we move in our power, what all can we shift in this physical realm? I believe that principle is known, but if everyone is powerful, who really is?

It’s a process that you have to go through to break those things down but when you do, you will shine even more brightly than before. Now I am intentional, I can move in my power.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dariusthomasproductions.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/dariusthomas_?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=