Alex Ouligian, Genna Rochlin Are Mr. and Miss Palisades

This year’s Teen Pageant winners could not have had more different approaches to the annual performance contest, held at Pierson Playhouse on March 15. Miss Palisades Genna Rochlin, a Palisades High School sophomore, had been preparing for months and knew for much longer that she wanted to compete. Mr. Palisades Alex Ouligian, a Loyola sophomore, was recruited three weeks before the event and had to practice his piano piece on a keyboard with headphones. Rochlin tap danced to a swing song, “Jumping at the Woodside” by Benny Goodman. In a sparkling costume, she gave a focused and dynamic performance. Ouligian played the romantic and calming “Claire de Lune” by Debussy, moving his body theatrically with the chords. Five judges awarded the titles to Rochlin and Ouligian based on their character, talent, communication, poise and presentation. They each won a $2,000 Cathie Wishnick scholarship, named in honor of the pageant’s longtime co-host, from the Chamber of Commerce plus a sterling silver Swiss Army knife (for Ouligian) and a sterling silver and gold heart necklace (for Rochlin) from Denton Jewelers. The couple will appear in events throughout the year, including riding in the Fourth of July parade, joining Santa on the fire truck for Holiday Ho!Ho!Ho! and appearing at Chamber mixers and events. Runners-up were Tyler DuBovy, a Renaissance sophomore and solid performer who delivered a monologue from “Ah, Wilderness” by Eugene O’Neill, and Archer School ninth grader Madisen Siegel, who played the piano and sang a beautiful rendition of Carole Bayer Sager’s “Looking Through Your Eyes.” Both received $200 and will step in for Mr. and Miss Palisades if they are unable to complete their duties. The other talented pageant participants were Caitlin Gallo, a junior at Marymount, who sang “Good Morning, Baltimore” from “Hairspray”; Mason Hays, a junior at PaliHi, who performed an original stand-up comedy routine entitled “A Teenager’s View of Life in the Palisades”; Ali Eagle, a sophomore at Crossroads, who sang “The Wizard and I” from “Wicked”; Erin Kelly, a sophomore at Archer, who played “Ashokan Farewell” by Jay Ungar, on the violin; Kristina Goldberg, another sophomore at Archer, who sang “Think of Me” from “Phantom of the Opera”; Paul Miller, a sophomore at PaliHi, who sang “Somewhere” from “West Side Story”; Breanna Baraff, a junior at Marymount, who performed a monologue, “Explanations,” by Vernon Howard; Alicia Dougherty, a sophomore at Archer, who danced and sang to “All of Me” by Marks & Simons. Hosts Christian Saglie, Mr. Palisades 1996, and Ramis Sadrieh, Mr. Palisades 1993, reminisced about their pageant days. They interviewed the teens, asking them about one of their accomplishments, their goals for the future, and the question that contestants did not know in advance: What have you taught your parents? “I think I taught them how to have fun,” said Rochlin, the daughter of Gary and Marla Rochlin, crediting her sisters, Katrina, an eighth grader, and Danielle, a senior. “All of us together taught my parents what it means to enjoy life and dance around in the sun.” She also spoke about being selected ninth grade student of the year at Paul Revere, after making the big transition from a much smaller school. Her goals include earning a college degree and then going to graduate school in order to become an entrepreneur so she can own her own business. She would also like to travel the world and help others less fortunate. “I want to live a passionate life that I’m proud of, to know in my heart I have made a difference one way or another.” Ouligian said he had taught his parents, Greg and Victoria, time organization as well as how to cooperate on raising him and his two siblings, Rebecca, a ninth grader, and Thomas, a sixth grader. “It might have been a lot of work on their part, but I’m sure they think it’s worth it.” He also talked about his Eagle Scout trip to Europe, where they posed at the American Cemetery in Normandy with an American flag that is now flying over the Village Green. Ouligian, who likes to talk about policy, said he plans to study government and economics in college and, eventually, become an ambassador to another nation so that he can “meet a lot of international people, share ideas and debate.” Last year’s winners, Thea Rogers, a junior at Marlborough School, and Jay Sobel, Loyola senior, gave their farewell performances. Rogers brought back her quirky British character from last year’s comic monologue, performing this time as a tour guide in the Bront’ Parsonage Museum who offers tangential commentary on what she thinks Charlotte, Emily and Anne would have been thinking and doing. Sobel once again starred in “The Adventure of Pali Man,” a short film he wrote and directed, as a nerdy high school student who transforms into a superhero, ridding Palisadian heads of unwanted perms. While the judges’ votes were being tabulated, the audience watched an unusual act called “Opera Kadabera,” in which Patrick Bell sang French and German operas while performing magic tricks such as wiggling his way out of a straitjacket. The panel of judges was composed of Italian film distributor Giulia Gagliani Goldman, native Palisadian and professional ballroom dance instructor Kathleen Corey, City Councilman Bill Rosendahl’s deputy Andrea Epstein, sound editor/music mixer Bobby Mackston and actor Richard Harrison. “I was in complete shock,” said Rochlin about hearing her name announced as Miss Palisades. “It hasn’t hit me yet.” She has been taking jazz, tap and ballet lessons for most of her life, and said she chose to perform tap for the show because “I knew I wanted to do something upbeat, to do a swing number.” She currently serves as an ambassador at PaliHi, conducting school tours and orientations for visitors, and plays on the junior varsity tennis team. “Genna is just one of the best,” said Susan Haskell, who produced several Theatre Palisades Kids musicals, which Rochlin performed in from third to seventh grade. “She’s an amazingly talented girl and she’s so poised.” Ouligian said he was “frankly a bit shocked” to hear he was the new Mr. Palisades. He decided to participate in the competition when Carol Smolinisky called to recruit him just weeks before the show, because “it was an opportunity for a scholarship and to perform my piece in front of a lot of people.” He’d been working on the Debussy piece for a couple of months with his piano teacher, Yuliya Barsky, and said after his performance at the Youth Pageant that “that’s probably the best I’ve ever performed it.” What was challenging for Ouligian was the opening dance number choreographed by Thea White and performed by all of the contestants. According to his father, Ouligian “had never danced a step in his whole life” but worked hard to practice the moves. The contestants gave a lively performance in colorful basketball shorts and jerseys, dancing to the hip hop song, “Get Your Head in the Game.” Their various dancing styles emerged in this number’some balletic, others jazzy and yet others in a more break-dancing style. Ouligian said he enjoyed reuniting with former Marquez Elementary School classmates as well as Scout friends, such as Tyler DuBovy. “The competition [between participants], if any, was really joking.” Runner-up DuBovy, who has landed leading parts in school plays every year since 2000, said, “After everything we’ve been through, it was the culmination of such a great time.” Siegel, who competed with three Archer classmates, also said that “meeting everybody was really great.” The evening’s co-chairs were Smolinisky and Candida Piaggi. Sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, the Miss Palisades competition dates back to 1958; the Mr. Palisades portion of the show was added in 1990.