Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tyler Tafolla. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Tyler, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?
Someone once explained writers block to me in this way and I’ll never forget it because I realized I had been doing this for a long time; Writers block is basically when your brain is already judging your work before you’ve even started. Your brain is already judging and critiquing your work and what it should be, sometimes even before you have put pen to paper. When I heard that, something just clicked for me, because I am such a micromanager and want to fix every little detail of what I am writing usually. But that stops me sometimes from even starting on something I’m writing. And I’ve learned that when it comes to the first draft of whatever I’m working on, I have to sort of throw some dummy lyrics or lines onto the paper first just to get an idea of what the thing is going to be, so then I at least have a blue print of what I can work with. Then I can go back and fix it later, but I have to create the thing first before I can fix it.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My name is Tyler Tafolla and I am a Southern California based performer, director and musical theatre writer. I hold a BFA in Music Theatre from AMDA College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts and am the creator of Tafolla Productions, producing shows in New York, Los Angeles and San Diego. I have written two musicals. The first is Seasons: A New Musical Song-Cycle which has a cast album streaming and available for purchase courtesy of Broadway Records. It’s also had productions in New York and Los Angeles, where it was nominated for Best New Musical and Best Ensemble Production for BroadwayWorld’s Regional Theatre Awards 2022. The second is Scott Robbins and the Traveling Show. Starting as a college workshop at AMDA Los Angeles, Scott Robbins went on to be Nominated for Best Musical and Best Score at the 2017 New York Theatre Festival: Summerfest. It has also had productions in New York, Los Angeles and San Diego. There is a musical-podcast version of the show currently available on Spotify. For more of Tyler’s work, visit tylertafolla.com
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Since I am working in the realm of Musical Theatre, the top three qualities that have helped me succeed is imagination, resilience, inclusion. And I think I’d sum up all of those within just life experience! I think you gain a better understanding or a better grasp of those three qualities the more life experience you have. And for me, that can mean either spending time with people and truly learning about their individual stories, traveling to new places and experience all the world has to offer, and working in multiples jobs to experience all walks of life. I think artists take all of themselves and all of their experiences into their work, whether it’s intentional or not. I believe when it is intentional though, life experiences can be a great tool in creating something new.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
The arts are naturally a collaborative art form. Especially when it comes to creating new original musicals. It truly takes a village to bring one person’s vision to life. Because one writer’s vision has to be shared with directors and choreographers and designers and musicians and performers and so on. One person’s vision becomes everyone’s shared vision! And you find yourself apart of a team working towards something that has become much bigger than one person. I think that’s one of the things I love about working in the theatre the most. Being apart of a team working towards something bigger than themselves.
Contact Info:
- Website: tylertafolla.com
- Instagram: @tatafolla
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TylerATafolla
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tylertafolla8319
