Jay Sobel and Thea Rogers Are Mr. & Miss Palisades

A funny thing happened on the way to the naming of Mr. and Miss Palisades at Pierson Playhouse on March 16. Comedy won out the night. Miss Palisades Thea Rogers, a Marlborough sophomore, performed a comic monologue in which she played a wacky theater director giving notes on a unusual version of ‘Hamlet,’ telling her actors it needs to be ‘fun, fun, fun!’ Mr. Palisades Jay Sobel, a Loyola junior, starred in ‘The Adventures of Pali Man,’ which he also wrote and directed, as a nerdy high schooler who transforms into a superhero, ridding Palisadian heads of unwanted perms. It featured Palisades locales and well-known residents. Five judges awarded the titles to Rogers & Sobel 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 silver necklace (for Rogers) and a Cross pen (for Sobel) from Denton Jewelers. They 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 Julian Hicks, a Harvard-Westlake freshman who gave a magnetic performance, singing ‘Corner of the Sky’ from ‘Pippin,’ and Archer School sophomore Lindsey Van Horn, who exuberantly both sang and danced ‘Music and the Mirror’ from ‘A Chorus Line.’ 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 Christine Kappeyne, a freshman at Palisades High School, who showed ‘Strange,’ the film she co-wrote and directed; Elizabeth Morris, a junior at Notre Dame who sang ‘Always True to You’ by Cole Porter; Dayna Tortorici, a sophomore at Crossroads, who sang ‘Our Love Is Here to Stay’ by George and Ira Gershwin; pianist Jason Barry, a sophomore at Santa Monica High, who played ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Queen; Nick Kappeyne, a junior at PaliHi, who performed a scene from ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’; Michael Nash Lumberg, a sophomore at PaliHi, who played ‘Crazy Train’ by Ozzy Osbourne on electric guitar. The hosts were brothers Christian Saglie, Mr. Palisades 1996, and Fuad Saglie, Mr. Palisades 1990; the panel of judges was composed of Honorary Mayor Steve Guttenberg, Emmy-nominated commercial producer Andy Singer, music executive Wil Sharpe, singer and voice teacher Heather Lyle and actress and former Miss Palisades Jeanne Elfant Festa. The Saglies interviewed the teens, asking about one of their accomplishments, their future plans, and the big question: ‘What is your favorite book or movie and why?’ This is the question the contestants didn’t know about in advance, and later many expressed relief that it wasn’t more difficult. Rogers cited as her favorite book ‘The Great Gatsby,’ which she had just read in English class. ‘I love descriptions that Fitzgerald uses and it puts you back in the ’20s, my favorite decade.’ She also spoke about her trip to Costa Rica this summer to build houses with the Calvary Christian Youth group. Her goals includ a college education. ‘I’d like to study abroad. I moved here from England at age 5. I’d love to go to Oxford like my Dad did.’ Sobel cited the novel ‘Timeline’ as his favorite, which he called ‘so cool’ and his favorite film as either ‘Saving Private Ryan’ or ‘Anchorman.’ He also discussed his community service work with the Special Olympics, where he is co-coach of the Westside tennis team. As for his goals, Jay said, ‘Being in 11th grade, my goals are getting through the SATs.’ His brother Tommy was Mr. Palisades in 2002. Last year’s winners, Gilli Messer, a PaliHi junior, and Riley Karp, a TK senior, gave their farewell performances. Gilli sang ‘Tell Me on a Sunday’ from ‘Song and Dance’ with her rich voice and Riley gave a soulful performance of the third movement of Beethoven’s ‘Walstein’ sonata. ‘The year’s gone by so fast,’ said Messer, who is the current Junior Miss North L.A. and will compete in the state Junior Miss Pageant this summer. The audience was also treated to an original piano piece by co-host, composer/pianist Christian Saglie, while the judges’ votes were tabulated. Sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce, the Miss Palisades competition dates back to 1958; Mr. Palisades portion of the show was added in 1990. ‘It felt really good,’ Sobel, the son of Curt and Connie Sobel, said of hearing his name called as Mr. Palisades. ‘I wanted to do something that had to do with the Palisades,’ Jay said about deciding to make the film, which featured a bad guy who sneaked up on innocent Palisades residents and transformed their hair into a curly mess. ‘I was shocked; I wasn’t expecting it,’ said Rogers, the daughter of Pauline and Peter Rogers. ‘I wanted to harken back to my British roots,’ she said of choosing the monologue by British comedian/writer Victoria Wood. ‘I love theater, and the British part spoke to me.’ She got laughs with lines like ‘Gravediggers, Shakespeare didn’t give you a lot of play with.’ Runner-up Hicks, who has been singing since age 5, said the show was a great experience. ‘All the other competitors were very supportive of each other.’ Van Horn, who has been dancing for 13 years, enjoyed the camaraderie, and she also designed the T-shirts for the opening dance number, choreographed by Thea White. The evening’s co-chairs were Carol Smolinisky and Candida Piaggi. PaliHi music teacher Terry Henderson and his Triumphant Trio also performed.