Sami Doherty has been dancing since the age of 7. According to her mom, she was “born singing and dancing.” Doherty told The News-Press in 2016 that at the age of 6, she could already recite every line from “Hello Dolly” and “My Fair Lady.”
“I watched anything with Gene Kelly in it,” she said at that time.
She’s a regular on the Broadway Palm mainstage, where she’s also been dance captain in numerous productions. But given her unique dance philosophy, it was inevitable that she’d venture into choreography.
“Dance is not just dance,” Doherty said. “Dance is an elevated way of expressing emotion … that brings us into movement. It’s cohesive. Dance, acting, and voice are not separate art forms. They are one connected thing that makes for inspiring storytelling.”
Creating the world of a show is an immersive experience for both actors and audiences.
“It can really help transport you to a different place in the world, a different time, and can have a very visceral impact on people if the choreography is in tune with the storyline and the environment and the time period,” Doherty observed.
That process begins with copious research, but Doherty is influenced more by the music.
“I listen to music in a different way than a lot of people do, listening for unique accents in the music or moments where the accompaniment reflects what's going on onstage,” she said. “I've always had a very imaginative mind, and so I see lots of layers of movement and styles and textures. And I also get inspired by the kids and by their personalities and what they choose to bring to a character."
While she choregraphs to the strengths of her cast, she generally finds that young performers are capable of much more than they realize.
“I believe in them far more than they ever will,” Doherty said. “Sometimes kids just need a little bit extra support and reminder that it's OK to not have everything perfect the first time. In fact, the best things come from hard work and from arduous practice. You have to have the right mindset about your own individual development and your progress without getting down on yourself and crippling your own confidence.”
When she’s not performing, you’ll find Doherty at Melody Lane Performing Arts Center in the Cape, where’s she a co-director and dance and acting instructor.
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Doherty is known locally more for her musical theater performances.
Her acting credits include Matthews and the sales lady in “Elf the Musical”; Judy Haynes in “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” (2022 & 2016); “Happy Days”; the Lady in Green in “Singin’ in the Rain” (as well as multiple ensemble roles); Judy in “A Chorus Line”; Lila in “Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn “(Lila Dixon); Marty in “Grease”; “Mamma Mia”; Charlie’s materialistic girlfriend, Nicola, in “Kinky Boots”; “Sounds of Christmas” (where she rocked “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”); Joan in “Dames at Sea” (in Off Broadway Palm); Babette in “Disney’s Beauty & the Beast”; “Guys & Dolls” (Ensemble); Connie in “Saturday Night Fever”; Matthews in “Elf, the Musical"; the detective in “Clue the Musical” (where she performed a dramatic Spanish two-step that would have the10 paddles coming out on “Dancing with the Stars”); Anytime Annie in “42nd Street” (for which she received a Broadway World Best Actress in a Musical (Professional) Award); “Chicago”; “A Christmas Story the Musical” (ensemble); “Mary Poppins”; “Yeston & Kopit’s Phantom” (where she played the roles of Florence and the Phantom’s tragic mother, Belladova); “Anything Goes”; “Evita"; “The Wizard of Oz”: “Sister Act”; “Show Boat”; “Footloose”; “West Side Story”; “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”; “Les Miserables”; “Shrek”; “Into the Woods” (as Rapunzel); “A Wonderful Life” (as Violet); and “Cats” (as Jennyanydots). But it was after she appeared as part of the ensemble in “Cinderella” in 2013 that she took her acting career to a new level.
“I've always had a passion for performing,” Doherty acknowledged. “But also, a really, really deep love for education. Ever since opening Melody Lane, I've assembled a wonderful team of incredible instructors, and we've just been doing our very best to bring the love of performing arts to all of our students.”
At Melody Lane, she teaches everything from ballet, tap and tumble for toddlers to pointe for high schoolers. She also began teaching for Competitive Edge Dance Studio over three years ago. Her students often include other professional performers who drop in to attend her “boot camps” while in appearing town.
“My professional career as a performer helps make me a better educator and teaching helps me be a better performer,” Doherty explained. “And I really love the creative process of making art and of teaching children how to make art.”
Doherty began choreographing high school musicals at the age of 12, attended Cypress Lake High School as a vocal major while continuing her dance studies, and went on to graduate from the Florida State University School of Theatre. She credits each of the choreographers she’s worked with as influences but has developed her own approach to choreographing a show.
“Everyone’s process is a little bit different,” Doherty said. “I do like to do a bit of research about the time period and cultural effects or cultural influence during the period for a particular show. But I try very hard not to watch any material from previous productions. I really just find that the music speaks to me and my experience as a musical theater performer helps inform that."
“As a choreographer who is a musical theater performer herself, Sami always challenges her students to dive deep and understand the motivation for each character’s movement,” observes Melody Lane Director of Education Dana Alvarez.
While Doherty firmly believes that young performers are capable of much more than they realize, she admits that there are limits, especially in a community theater or dance academy setting.
“You don't always get the cast that you might want,” she conceded. “You have the cast that you get. You definitely have to balance the overall vision that you have in your imagination with the skill set that you may be working with with a particular group. So, definitely try to balance the wild ideas that I get sometimes and keep myself in check, but I also am not against trying things out, working with the kids, collaborating, and seeing if something works. And if it doesn't, you modify and you find what works for that particular group.”
It's a nonjudgmental assessment. She assiduously avoids making anyone feel that they’re less than she would have wanted in a particular cast.
“Every performer has their own special qualities that they bring to a show. Although they may not be a technically trained dancer with incredible tricks and kicks, there is something that's so magical and unable to be taught just by having your heart in it and having passion for what you're doing,” Doherty said. “So, I try to make sure that we keep that at the forefront of everything that we do. For me, it's never about comparing yourself to others, comparing yourself to someone else's skill set. It is 100% about comparing yourself to your own potential and personal best. And so, I tell the students, if you need to take the material home, work on it a little bit, let it marinate and then come back feeling more confident, that's perfectly fine. But as long as you are always doing your best, not treating yourself with negativity, but pushing yourself and treating yourself with kindness, then we're going to work together to get to a beautiful product.”
Doherty noted that a performer’s self-image and self-esteem can be negatively influenced by online content and social media.
“We have access to so many things because of technology that people never used to have,” said Doherty. “That can be a wonderful thing and can give people access to information and resources that they didn't have before. But also, I find for young performers, it can unfortunately give them this overwhelming sense of inadequacy and self-doubt because they inherently see this very curated, picture-perfect image in social media and in mainstream media that can make them feel like they are somehow less than or somehow not meeting this wild expectation when in reality, that is a curated image. So, I just try to remind students that everything in life, including performing, is a process and you need to be patient with yourself, and you need to stay positive in order to make the strides that you want to.”
For these reasons, Doherty’s legacy extends far beyond work ethic, motivation and technique.
“The lessons they learn from Sami are life lessons. Even if they choose not to pursue a career in theater or dance, they’ll carry those lessons with them into adulthood,” observed Ginger Lynn, a co-director and dance instructor at Melody Lane Performing Arts Center.
In addition to dance, Doherty teaches vocals and acting – from the audition through the onstage and the backstage/technical experience.
“She’s teaching them the importance of education, how to apply for a job, handle an interview, navigate the pitfalls of social media. Sami does a whole lot more than just teach dance.”
Her own influences vary.
“As a musical theater girl, I do have a deep love for Bob Fosse,” Doherty noted. “But I also have a really strong connection with more classical forms of dance like ballet and Balanchine. It kind of depends on the day, depends on my mood. I tell the kids all the time that my favorite musical will just depend on the weather or change every five minutes. So, same with choreographers. I think revisiting things that you've experienced before can also help you find something new and draw inspiration from something that you may have overlooked. So, I'm just constantly cycling through, and art imitates life and life imitates art.”
Meanwhile, Doherty continues to build her choreography resume. Among her developing choreography credits are “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Mean Girls,” “A Chorus Line,” “Les Miserables” and “Newsies the Musical.”
She’s also choreographing “Aladdin” for this year’s Junior Theatre Festival.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
