Our Box Office Manager Extraordinaire

Jo Taubert, TCP Soprano & Box Office Manager

When and how did you first discover your love of singing?

I don’t remember a time before singing. My father was a singer and pianist for a jazz combo; he composed and wrote songs for my sisters and me. When I was seven, I started singing with the Methodist Children’s Choir in the small town where I grew up. And the following year I was in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

After college I took a hiatus to finish law school, got married, and moved to California. I tried several choral groups before I found what I hope to be my forever home in The Choral Project. I have always reveled in my great good fortune to be in a group of this caliber. In short, I have done musicals and performed my whole life, but at the center of it all, I love singing.

Other than singing, do you have other music-related talents?

I have played flute since I was a child and carried on through high school and college, along with studying music and singing in choirs throughout that same period of time. I also took dance classes in college. And I've sung in jazz groups, opera, music theater productions, and I currently sing for a Rush tribute rock band.

Do you have a story to share about maybe your most memorable or funniest theatre production experience?

When I was a child my mother was directing a courtroom drama that was staged in the county courthouse. Very little was needed from the single stagehand—me—which consisted of mostly handing the actors a few props.

Toward the end of the play there was a dramatic moment where the lights went out. The light switch was located behind the jury box, so I was stuck hiding back there the whole third act waiting for the cue near the end of the play. But I was ten, it was late on a school night, and I had to sit on the floor completely quiet and still. So of course I fell asleep and ruined the moment!

Do you have a guilty music pleasure or favorite artist?

I don’t feel guilty about anything musical. But there are some 80s artists I can only listen to in the car when I’m alone because my husband rolls his eyes when I listen to them at home. And Rush is a favorite. I also like several pop and British punk groups including The Clash, Henry Rollins, and Adam Ant, whereas my spouse is more of a hair band and heavy metal guy.

Have you discovered any music-themed pastimes and loves, or new musicians you like since social distancing started?

Virtual symphonies and choirs have become a lifeline to music for me and all the musicians who can no longer perform. It’s a different skill set that has been interesting to acquire. I recommend the Cambrian Symphony.

Finish this sentence: The thing I most miss about singing for an audience is…

The audience, of course! “Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly,” and a performer has to perform.

This Issue’s YouTube Companion Playlist

Photos © 2020 Nada Marriott