Proving that he can be a full-time employee at Double D's and an artist at the same time, Dan Harris held his directorial debut of Kiss Me Kate at Los Gatos High School on March 5. The musical production is a complicated one based on William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. It has a little bit of everything, from comedy to drama, and even a love story.

"It's a play within a play," Harris explains. "It's kind of complicated but interesting at the same time."

What may be even more interesting is that despite his success directing plays for younger cast members at Daves Avenue Elementary School, Harris says he's overwhelmed by the amount of work that goes into co-producing and directing a piece like Kiss Me Kate with older students involved.

"There are so many things to think about, such as lights, sound effects and the overall look of the stage," says the 20-year-old graduate of Los Gatos High School. "There's a lot more pressure to do well, partly because the students are genuinely interested and serious about performing. They're doing it for themselves, whereas most of the younger kids are doing it for their parents."

Harris was presented with the opportunity to direct the play back in November when he was approached by Diana Pleasant, the performing arts chairwoman at Los Gatos High School.

"Dan has an extraordinary amount of talent," says Pleasant, who has known Harris since he was in sixth grade. "He's not the typical artist. He has an amazing ability to organize his creative thoughts."

Pleasant, the musical director and co-producer of the play, recalls a time where she was particularly impressed by Harris' leadership style. It was during his last year in high school when Harris took over the senior talent show, which is usually run by class officers. From taking care of the staging aspects to the technical issues, Harris ended up organizing most of the show.

"I've seen 22 senior talent shows at the school, and this one was exceptional. It was the most organized talent show ever. Harris was able to overcome all the chaos in a positive way," Pleasant says.

And, he's done it again with this production.

"It's been a bumpy ride, especially in the beginning," Harris says.

Among the several things that went wrong and that Harris had to deal with were having one student forced to give up his three supporting roles because of a spleen injury and having other cast members drop out during the course of the production, all of whom Harris had to replace.

Despite the stress involved, Harris says he would love to direct another play for the school.

"The students are more critical of me than younger adolescents, but it's great working with them because they're serious about their performance and have fun at the same time. That's what makes my job worthwhile," Harris says.

It's not too late to catch the production. Kiss Me Kate will play at 7 p.m. on March 11 and at 8 p.m. on March 12 and 13 at the Los Gatos High School auditorium, 20 High School Court. To purchase tickets in advance, call 408.356.0396.