Archive for category Arts

Seniors Luke Greenway, Lauren Glass, Colin Featherston, Ben Notkin and junior Mitch Young read through "Words Incorporated", a one act play written by Greenway for his senior project.

On Thursday, March 11 the classroom of 242 was transformed into an oasis for aspiring guitarists, soulful singers, and two brothers who simply wanted to convey their love for the Oregon Ducks. From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m,  the undercover talents of Roosevelt High School wowed the crowd with songs, poems, and plenty of laughs.

Some highlight of the evening came from the singer/guitarist Stefan Skalbania, who serenaded the floor with his rendition of “Romeo and Juliet” by Dire Straits. Skalbania is widely regarded as an excellent guitarist through his position on the rhythm section of the top vocal jazz choir.  Other members of the  choir, juniors Hannah Jacobson and Katherine Stuber, gave us a taste of their jazz roots in a swing arrangement of “You are my Sunshine”.

Other students gave the crowd something to sing along with as senior Lauren Glass preformed the popular pop tune, “Hot and Cold” by Katy Perry, and junior Alex Hume  sang “Love Song” by Taylor Swift.

“Ten Strings”, the popular band consisting of Sophomore Zach Horton and Junior Carlos Alvarez, had the crowd chuckling during their performance of a witty self-written piece about a few controversial social issues. The group has become a beloved staple at Open Mic this year, and never fails to amaze all who lend an ear to their quirky lyrics.

A particularly special moment was when senior Luke Greenway got up on stage to assemble a staged reading of “Words Incorporated”, a one act play that Greenway wrote for his senior project, and hopes to debut in the near future. The plot revolves around a group of gentleman working at a company that is creating the English language, and this premise gave a comical atmosphere to the well written script.

No one wanted the show to end after an evening packed with excellent and inspirational performaces. However, Open Mic is always once a month, and come April the stage will light up once again with the soulful singing, acoustic guitar, and delightful performances that showcase but a sliver of the talent that Roosevelt students contain.

On Wednesday, March 3, the Rider Riderettes presented “For You,” another great showcase of performing arts here at Roosevelt. The Rider Riderettes started the show with their hip-hop competition piece.

Felix Huynh "tutting".

The Break Club and Tap Club pitched in with a couple lively, crowd-pleasing performances. More beautiful dance routines followed, including audience-favorite “Tutting” by Felix Huynh, a cute and zesty pantomime routine, and a moving lyrical piece performed by senior Ruby Miller, junior Audrey Wheeler, sophomore Erika Jacobsen and freshman Madhavi Narayanan. The Rider Riderettes also performed their basketball halftime piece, and juniors Zoe Geiger, Audrey Wheeler, and Sarah Clevenger danced a Pointe piece to Sleeping Beauty’s “Bluebird.”

It wasn’t all dance: senior Sophi Obenza took the stage singing Phil Collins’ “True Colors” and “Thunder and Lightning.” Sophomore Devan Campbell swooned us with Miley Cyrus’s “The Climb” and Sarah Evans’ “Born to Fly”.

“The showcase this year was perfect, and we have our coach, Mindy Lu, to thank for that. The audience seemed to really enjoy the diversity of pieces we displayed, and we raised a ton of money for competitions!” said junior Riderette Zoe Geiger.