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Stokes_Music
While at UCM, Sam was involved in the Marching Band, Concert Band, Jazz Band, Symphony Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, and Winter Drumline playing piano, percussion, and cello. Sam was also very heavily involved in the theatre department, serving as a musical director, composer, or arranger for approximately 20 shows. While at FSU, Sam was the music director for Marat/Sade and Amadeus.
Sam has composed three full-length musicals. The first entitled Bird Millman, a collaborative effort with playwright August Mergelman, was performed by the Freemont Civic Theatre in Canon City, Colorado in Spring of 2002. The second entitled Dracula, a collaboration with playwright Richard Herman, was produced by the Central Missouri Repertory Company in the Summer of 2003. The third, Robin Hood: A Troubadour's Tale, has recently been completed and is now available for performance.
Sam's musical The Humpty Dumpty Mystery had its second production by the theatre department at State Fair Community College in Sedalia, Missouri in 2005. In November of 2006, A Tale of Two Heroes: The Adventures of El Matador and Flynn the Swashbuckler was presented at the University of Central Missouri as part of the 2006-2007 Performing Arts Series.
Sam also previously worked for Pyramid Studios in Tallahassee, FL, which provides education in the arts for adults with developmental disabilities. Sam was the playwright, music director, and sound designer for the show Mystery at the Dodge City Disco in August 2007 and the playwright for Blue Moon in August 2008.
Sam also enjoys writing humorous songs. He wrote and recorded the parody "Jolly Old St. Nicholas - Change Your Ways!" which was premeired on the Dr. Demento Show on November 25, 2007. This and other humorous songs can be found on Sam's YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/samstokes80.
Services offered by Sam Stokes include custom compositions, musicals, plays, arrangements, Finale transcriptions, and jazz piano playing (solo or combo).
Reviews
The Siege of Robin Hood (2022)
An imperfect Robin Hood movie with heart
Okay, yes, I suppose rating this film an 8/10 is generous, but I think it's about time that independent filmmakers get a fair shake. After all, sometimes our beloved Hollywood filmmakers spend over $100 million dollars and still produce a turkey. This movie, on the other hand, immediately looked like something that some of my friends (my more talented friends, that is) shot with their cell phones at a Renaissance faire and edited on a MacBook, but you know what? It had heart. It was fun, funny, and had the spirit of adventure that Robin Hood stories should have.
Was it everything I ever wanted from a Robin Hood film? No, but did I waste two hours watching it? No! I had fun. It felt like an enthusiastic friend telling me a fun story. And, by the way, where did Robin Hood legends come from? They came from the common people, not the ridiculously rich people, such as our multimillion/billion dollar Hollywood elites.
And who am I to tell you this movie is a worthwhile watch? I'm not a filmmaker, but I do have one of the most ambitious webpages for Robin Hood film, TV, and video game reviews. I've also seen every film on the AFI top 100 and the revised list they published a decade later, and while this puts me still in the category of "film enthusiast", I still count myself as a self-proclaimed expert when it comes to Robin Hood films.
So, if you want a perfect film, bound to go down in the annals of film history, this isn't it. If you want a fun Robin Hood adventure, told by the common folk to the common folk, then cast off the guise of pretentious Hollywood film critic for a moment, and just enjoy the fun of watching this film, like a lowly commoner.