Music Review: Patty Reese at Austin Grill

>This review is a collaboration between Rockville Central friend Amy Ellis and myself.

Last Thursday March 13, 2008 we had the pleasure of listening to Patty Reese at the Austin Grill Rockville as part their Songwriters Showcase. Since she was awarded “Best Rock Vocalist” for 2007 from the Washington Area Music Association, we definitely wanted to hear her sing. Patty started strong and then used each song as a building block to reach an even higher level with the next, showcasing a rich and powerful voice capable of doing justice to a variety of music.

Although she was taking requests, which included Tracy Chapman, Van Morrison, Janis Joplin, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, and Bob Dylan, her distinctive phrasing made each song her own. As teenagers, we listened to Stevie Nicks’ music, but as adults, we can’t remember the last time we heard Landslide, which really struck a chord in our hearts. Patty’s insightful interpretation of this song had a lovely, but mournful quality. Perhaps some of this change in perspective has to do with being older now and having experienced a lot more of life including motherhood, but it seemed that Patty’s rendition of this song uncovered shades of meaning in the lyrics that were not as evident in the original.

Before she began to play Tom Petty’s Breakdown, Patty said that it would be even better with a second guitar. Regardless, we enjoyed hearing her “unplugged” version of this song and thought the solo guitar work was excellent. The acoustic set was a very nice showcase for her considerable talent as a guitarist in addition to her fine voice.

We suspect that her flawless ability to play requests for the crowd is the reason that she does so many cover songs, but anyone who has listened to her recorded music would rather have had the chance to hear her originals. Our solution was to buy two of her cds, Here and Now and Patty Reese ep. Next time, we’ll know what to request and it will be written by her!

Patty Reese will be playing at Austin Grill Rockville regularly, the second Thursday of each month starting at around 8:30 PM. As always, there is never a cover charge at Austin Grill just food, drink, and live music.

Contributor Review by Michael Berney: Rocket Men Show Another Side of Richard Montgomery

>The following contributor review is by Michael Berney:

And I think it’s gonna be a long, long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
No, no, no, no—I’m a Rocket Man
–Bernie Taupin (sung by Elton John)

The Richard Montgomery High School Rocket Men busted a few stereotypes last Friday night March 7, 2008. This is a group of kids who attend the number one school in the D.C. metropolitan area on the Washington Post’s Challenge Index for Rigor. Three quarters of the student body are enrolled in honors and advance placement courses. The student graduation rate is 92.7% and the attendance rate is 94.9%. These are high school students whose academic achievement is out of this world.

But there is another, more playful, side to these young men.

Introductions

Sixteen Richard Montgomery seniors competed for the title of “Mr. RM” on Friday in a two-and-a-half hour competition. Participants displayed unique talents, dressed up in formal wear and beachwear, and tried out pick-up lines on female classmates. As judges whittled the group down to ten and then five contestants, the final set had to answer a pair of questions in an interview phase.

When the curtain opened on the evening, the entire group danced in formation to “It’s Raining Men.” The audience, of parents and siblings, fellow students and RM alumni, howled and applauded. Then the evening’s hosts called up the contestants one by one. The hosts read introductions penned by the contestant themselves.

Ian Richter: “He is the mortal enemy of new age philosophy in all its forms, and he will never ‘just chill’.”

Kishan Thadikonda: “He plans to one day settle down in an arranged marriage and make beautiful Indian babies.”

Talents

Kevin Chung led off the opening event of the competition: a talent demonstration. He took center stage with a traditional Chinese yo-yo. This toy, which has a history dating to China’s Ming Dynasty (1386-1644 AD), is kept spinning on a string tied to two sticks at its ends. Kevin manipulated the yo-yo, tossing it in the air, around his back, and through his legs.

Then the curtains on the stage closed and a screen descended. Michael Rosenthal—in real life an accomplished RM athlete—appeared in a video, poking fun at himself playing football, basketball, and lacrosse. “But the one thing I’ve always wanted to do,” Michael said at the video’s end, “was dance Thriller with the RM Poms.”

At that moment the curtains opened and Michael, taking the Michael Jackson role as head zombie, led a group of costumed POMS to the rock song:

Its close to midnight and something evils lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart

Formal and Informal Clothing

When all of the young men had displayed talents, they appeared as a group on stage wearing formal wear. Most wore tuxedos, but the group also included variations such as traditional Indian formal wear.

Beachwear followed formal wear. Here clothes ranged from swimwear to an 8-foot tall red lobster. One “misguided” contestant showed up in a head-to-toe snowboarding outfit.

Pick-Up Lines

The next portion of the Mr. RM contest required each contestant to approach a pair of girls seated mid-stage. The contestant had to display his best pick-up line.

Kevin Chung: “My love for you is like an exponential function: it’s boundless.”

Jake Rosner: “My friend just bet me that I wouldn’t get a date with the most beautiful girl in school. Can you help me win that bet?”

Zach Sandberg: “Girl, you put the ‘fine’ in ‘sunshine’.”—To which the reply was, “There is no ‘fine’ in ‘sunshine’.”

Winning Through Humor

When Ms. South Carolina competed in this year’s Miss Teen USA contest, she humored the audience with

her inability to answer a question on geography. The humor displayed by the Richard Montgomery students could not have differed more.

Friday night’s contestants poked fun at themselves. They competed in a good-natured competition where, in a sense, everyone won. These young men showed another side of a school remarkable for its academic excellence.

One father compressed the entire competition down to a 10-second collage of still photographs and also has some very funny footage of the evening. View them here.

Would you like to write a contributor review of an arts event to Rockville Central? Excellent! Just send it in and we will consider it.
Rules: Event is in Rockville; fairly recent; article is your work; you are not offering it for publication elsewhere. Try to keep it under 500 words; we will edit for length. Include a photo if you have one!

Contributor Review by Brigitta Mullican: Sister City Fundraiser A Success

>Rockville Central friend Brigitta Mullican, a founder of the Rockville Sister City Corporation, sent along this wonderful report of that organization’s 16th annual wine-tasting fundraiser held last Friday at everyone’s favorite Glenview Mansion. Here it is:

On Friday night, the Rockville Sister City Corporation (RSCC) held its 16th Annual Wine Tasting fundraiser at the Glenview Mansion. The first event in the second half of a century of friendship and relationships with Pinneberg and other global communities attracted a lively crowd interested in learning more about other cultures and our program of supporting student exchanges.

The Rockville Mayor Susan Hoffmann, and Council Member Piotr Gajewski, as well as the Executive Director of Sister Cities International, Patrick Madden, honored us with their presence and participation to recognize David L’Heureux for his eleven successful years of service as the RSCC President.

Susan Hoffmann highlighted David’s achievements as the RSCC President and his many volunteer contributions to other community organizations and commissions of the City of Rockville. She called him a true Community Man who is an advocate for people in need, especially the handicapped and disadvantaged.

Patrick Madden honored David for his many contributions to international and global outreach, one person, one community at a time. The Board of Directors surprised David with a present.

Former director, Stephanie Wright, who also stepped down from her position on the Board, received recognition for her many years of dedicated service, organizing student exchanges, securing host families for visitors from Pinneberg and leading numerous fundraisers.

Rotraut Bockstahler stated: “I feel honored to serve as the new RSCC President together with such dedicated, wonderful, community oriented members of the Board of Directors.”

RSCC’s next social events are: a film night at the Rockville Senior Center, April 11 at 7:00 pm, the German Classic “The Blue Angel” with Marlene Dietrich, and the Fall Wine Tasting also at the Rockville Senior Center on November 7 (tentative date). Please check our website for more information.

Thanks Brigitta!

Contributor Review by Michael Berney: RM Debuts New Auditorium with Choral Performance

>The following contributor review is by Michael Berney:

Those of us fortunate enough to squeeze into the new Richard Montgomery High School Auditorium last Thursday night received a special treat. Choruses from the RM Cluster elementary schools joined our combined choruses for an hour of wonderful music. Children and parents filled every seat and family members lined the walls.

When the lights dimmed, the first two groups to take the stage were a cappella (unaccompanied voices) singing groups. Five young men interpreted a contemporary song with multi-part harmonies. Then a girl dressed in red ran across the stage to introduce the second group, In Tune. The group did not exactly sing in tune, but they certainly provided enough slapstick entertainment to have the elementary school kids laughing and screaming with delight.

Speaking of screaming, Assistant School Administrator Nicole Sosik warmed up the elementary school contingent’s vocal chords by inviting each group, in turn, to demonstrate their enthusiasm for attending Richard Montgomery. “How excited are you about coming to Richard Montgomery and going to school in this new building?” The Beall Elementary kids together screamed for joy. “What do you think of this new auditorium?” The College Gardens kids screamed even louder. I forget the last question, but the Ritchie Park contingent chimed in with still louder screams. Then Ms. Sosik announced that Richard Montgomery was making a $500 donation to each school in recognition of their contribution to this evening’s program.

Where’s the Light Switch

The new auditorium boasts computer controlled lighting and sound systems. When choruses assembled on stage, the lights darkened in the theater. All eyes focused on the children, arrayed on risers. At the close of the program, when the audience needed to view programs for help singing along with America, the Beautiful’s verse 4 (“O beautiful for patriot dream . . .”), the house lights rose ever so slightly to accommodate the need.

Other features of the auditorium include its convenient location next to the music rehearsal rooms. The backstage area provides storage. And for those of us in attendance, the seating was above average. The seats may not be theater-style plush but they certainly felt comfortable.

Drums and Xylophones and A Concert Grand Piano

The program began with Beall Elementary Chorus performing. For the middle number, chorus members accompanied the singing with African drumming. College Gardens Elementary Chorus sang, and the Ritchie Park Elementary Chorus finished the vocal section.

In addition to the African drumming, children used xylophones and other instruments to embellish some of the numbers. Especially enjoyable was watching the Choral Conductors do their work. Each brought forth lovely melodies and harmonies from their respective choirs.

The Richard Montgomery combined choruses then took the stage, with the particularly complicated piano accompaniment performed by Kevin Hu, an RM freshman. Then the elementary school choirs joined with the RM choir for a traditional round, and the evening concluded with America, the Beautiful.

Gifted Leadership

Ron Frezzo, Richard Montgomery’s long-time choir director, arranged this evening so that it featured highlights. The program lasted only one hour but gave every choir, including RM’s, a chance to display a range of talents.

Mr. Frezzo represents one of Richard Montgomery’s treasures. This evening served so many purposes: it opened a new space with a celebration of talent, it welcomed in RM’s extended academic community — the children who may one day attend RM, and it joined parents and children together in song.

A Final Thought on Music

By chance, the paper cup holding my morning bears a quotation about music. It seems apropos:

Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears—it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear. But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more—it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity. — Oliver Sacks (Neurologist and author of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain.)

Would you like to write a contributor review of an arts event to Rockville Central? Excellent! Just send it in and we will consider it. Rules: Event is in Rockville; fairly recent; article is your work; you are not offering it for publication elsewhere. Try to keep it under 500 words; we will edit for length. Include a photo if you have one!