Happy Accidents

4 How to Treat Your Coworkers Like Artists and Poets

We don’t get harmony if we all sing the same note.

– Steve Goodier

The excitement of the beginning years of starting a show had worn off, and we had ventured into a territory unfamiliar to all of us. We had come to the point, like in a marriage, where we had to start working to make things work. The grind of putting on a show each week and running a business had set in with a somewhat monotonous tone. The adrenaline no longer fueled us, and after several of our original members left to pursue other interests, we had to reinvent ourselves at a time when we weren’t even certain we wanted to continue the show. We were four years into our run, and we knew we either needed to adapt or die. We chose to adapt.

One of the most difficult aspects of sustaining both a hit show and a business is to continue evolving even after a few of the central driving forces of the show or business move on. We were left to reevaluate how we would proceed moving forward after losing some key talent that had helped us thrive, and we realized we could no longer go on doing the same show that had made us a hit in Fort Worth.

Year four brought us a myriad of changes. Our second musical director Paul Slavens moved on to pursue other endeavors, which left a huge musical void in our show. Slavens regularly amazed crowds with his ability to play piano live and improvise songs based on a suggestion from the audience. Nearly 20 minutes of each show were dedicated ...