Tara Vaughn and her band have a hit show on their hands with She Rocks, a tribute to the ladies of the music world. The show is yet another success for Rave On productions, the group also responsible for Yesterday & Today, Rock Twist & Rave On: The Buddy Holly Story. Tara comes out and tells the stories of her life that lead her to where she is now. Her childhood dream of becoming a rock star is coming to life right before our eyes. The show initially premiered last October with 2 shows at Omaha Community Playhouse and finally has a full run that started this weekend and runs through June 30th.
Watching Tara interact with her band and crowd while she belts out tunes ranging from Etta James to Destiny's Child and everything in between shows why she is leading this show. Her enthusiasm for the music is contagious. Her voice has a soulful twang that can sound like Dolly Parton one minute and Christine McVei the next. Tara maneuvers her way through the ladies of music over the decades so skillfully, sprinkling in stories of how these women overcame the odds to become rock legends and her own inspiration from these songs to pursue her dreams. Along with Vaughn, her band consists of Matthew & Ryan McGuigan (No strangers to the Howard Drew Theater stage), Max Meyer, Adam Stoltenberg & Natalie Thomas. Thomas took lead on the songs 'You Keep Me Hanging On' & 'Chain of Fools', leading me to hope we will hear more from her in the future as well.
Tara also showcased a couple of her own original songs, 'Blame It On My Youth', her take on a song to "call out the dudes on their stuff" reminiscent of 'You're So Vain', & 'My Father's Daughter', a sweet song she wrote for this show.
I cannot wait to see where Tara takes us next as she develops this show, here's to hoping the next version contains the Max & Adam snake charming bit she originally pitched to Billy!