News Staff Reporter
Choate’s Coffee House, sponsored by Choate’s own literary magazine, proved to be a huge success. “The Lit” Coffee House, which takes place once a year, is like a high-school talent show with real talent. The relaxed and friendly vibe of the event was obvious just from walking in to the event hosted at the John Josephs Activities Center. “‘The Lit’ [Coffee House] was great because right away you could see how everyone got to be chill and listen to really great talented artists,” says Sarah Albert ‘06. Unlike open-mike nights, “The Lit” Coffee House was sprinkled with poetry written by students and faculty alike. While the crowd was silent for poetry, moans and groans could be heard while Mr. Yankus cracked over fifteen corny jokes. (He shouldn’t give up his day job). “How come a general store sells specific things?” was just one of his many knee slappers. On a more talented note however, according to Grace Peard ‘08, “seeing Mr. Yankus jamming with his bass was one of the best parts of the show.”
Besides the platters of cookies and the dispensers of coffee, the various musical performances were very similar to those at open mike nights. Both Lilith and the Whimewehs sang, as did the Kaprophones. Besides a capella, highlights included Justin Mitchell ‘06 trying to sing “Fix You” by Coldplay and Jason Bertoldi ‘06, Anthony Polemis ‘06, and Ryan Mooney ‘06 rapping the hilarious “Saturday Night Live” song, “Lazy Sunday.” One of the best parts of the show was that it ran incredibly smoothly. “I don’t really have a favorite event but it was so satisfying to see the coffeehouse turn out very well without any glitches, even with frantic last minute changes,” says co-head of “The Lit,” Chihiro Ikegami ‘06.
Although an anonymous student feels that “The Lit” Coffee House should be transported across campus to the library where music and poetry can truly be appreciated, other members of the audience seemed very pleased. “The moving poetry and beautiful lyrics of the songs that were played really rounded out the evening,” says enthusiast Nathaniel Moore ‘08. The best parts of talent shows are seeing your friends perform and discovering talents that you never knew they had. This year’s Coffee House most definitely lived up to that expectation. Who knew Ben Pascal ‘08 could sing like John Mayer? Who would have thought that Mary Hinojosa ‘07 could sound so much like Shakira? “I thought it was a great display of unexpected talent. There were so many people I didn’t associate with music or poetry, but they ended up being great assets to the coffeehouse,” says fourth former Ellie Foster who performed in the event with Lilith. The next important event on the agenda for “The Lit” is publishing the magazine itself.
