By FRANCES SHARPE Special to the Palisadian-Post With the Mr. and Miss Palisades Teen contest coming up March 5, we decided to check in with some of the past winners to find out about their latest achievements. LAURIE KRANTZ (1979) This Palisades High graduate has been living in Colorado for the past five years. Laurie, 47, came back home to Pacific Palisades about two years ago to take care of her ailing mother. During this time, she realized how much she missed living here. When her mother passed away, Laurie made the decision to move back to the Palisades permanently with her 8-year-old daughter. A colon hydrotherapist and a former massage therapist, Laurie plans to set up a practice in the Palisades when she makes the move this fall. GABE FUAD ‘GABE’ SAGLIE (1990) Gabe, 35, earned a B.A. in English from UCLA in 1994 and a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from USC in 1997. Now, he’s putting his education to use in Santa Barbara, where he is a senior editor and company spokesperson for Travelzoo, a travel media company based in New York. Gabe also produces a food and wine radio show called ‘The Grapevine’ and is the editor of ‘Wine & Dine Santa Barbara,’ a quarterly that can be seen at www.wineanddinesb.com. Gabe and his wife Renee have a two-year-old son, Gabriel Harrison, and are expecting another son in late March. RONI FELDMAN (1997) Roni, 27, admits that he was very shy back in high school and that it was out of character for him to enter the Mr. Palisades contest. Winning the event improved the self-confidence of the artist who displayed his paintings for the talent portion of the competition. Roni has since earned a degree from UC Santa Barbara’s College of Creative Studies in 2002 and is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree at Claremont Graduate University. Roni’s artwork has been featured in exhibits nationwide, and upcoming shows are scheduled in Australia and Europe. A major solo exhibit is set for May 1-30 at Toomey-Tourell Fine Art in San Francisco. His artwork (which can be viewed at www.ronifeldmanfineart.com) is also on exhibit through March 15 at See Line Gallery in Santa Monica. COLIN MAXWELL (1998) After earning a BFA degree from New York University in 2004, Colin started working as a dancer in New York City. The 25-year-old currently lives in Harlem and is preparing for a city-wide dance competition. He credits the Mr. Palisades contest for giving him the confidence he needs to be a performer. RACHEL MIZRAHI (1999) During the Miss Palisades contest, Rachel told the audience that she had always wanted to be a teacher. Now, the 24-year-old is living out that dream as a fourth-grade teacher at Topanga Elementary. Her path to teaching began with an undergraduate degree from UC Irvine and followed with a master’s degree from USC. Rachel currently lives in Santa Monica. LIZ BURGHDORF (2001) Liz, 22, showed off her singing chops in the talent portion of the Miss Palisades contest. Lately, she’s been honing her comedic acting chops. After attending Santa Monica College for a few years, Liz was accepted to The Groundlings, the renowned improv school that has turned out dozens of famous comedic actors, including Will Ferrell, Jon Lovitz and Lisa Kudrow. Still a Palisades resident, she is currently auditioning for roles and has appeared as the lead in a short film and in a showcase for her acting class. GILLI MESSER (2004) A sophomore at Barnard College in New York, Gilli, 19, is majoring in anthropology with a minor in French. She loves living in New York, where she participates in college theater productions and auditions for professional acting roles. Last summer, Gilli traveled to Africa with a group of students from Columbia University to make a documentary about using activities like song and dance to help teach African orphans how to protect themselves from AIDS. GENNA ROCHLIN (2006) Currently senior class president at Palisades High, Genna tap-danced her way to the title of Miss Palisades. Last fall, she played singles on the girls tennis team and helped her team win their third consecutive city championship. Genna has been actively involved with the American Red Cross and is currently president of PaliHi’s Red Cross Club. She plans to attend a four-year university. (Frances Sharpe is a professional writer, magazine editor and ghostwriter. She became involved with the Mr. and Miss Palisades Contest when her husband, Wil Sharpe, served as a judge a few years ago. She enjoyed the event so much she began working with the committee on an informal basis and has now joined the committee.) LUIS SAGLIE (1991) A PaliHi grad, Luis, 33, attended UCLA where he studied piano and composition and also became involved with musical projects as a conductor. In 1996, he moved to Vienna, Austria, where he studied opera and orchestral conducting at the University of Music and conducting and composition at the Vienna Conservatory. In the field of musical composition, Luis holds a conservatory diploma, a B.A. and an M.A. His compositions’commissioned by instrumentalists, chamber ensembles, universities and artistic centers’have been performed in Europe, Chile and the U.S. In 2006, he conducted the Vienna premiere of his first opera, El d’a de la liberaci’n, and he is currently working on his second opera. In March, he is moving back to California, where he plans to break into the world of film music as a composer and conductor. Visit: www.luissaglie.com. RAMIS SADRIEH (1993) As vice president of the Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce, Ramis has become a familiar face around town. His Technology For You! business (technologyforyou.com), which offers one-stop solutions for home and office technology, won the Chamber’s Best New Business Award in 2005. Ramis, 32, also organized the town’s first Technology Fair last spring and is treasurer of PAPA, the Fourth of July parade organizing committee. Ramis, who earned a degree in math and computer science from UCLA and an MBA from Pepperdine, is married to Sara Boroomi. They are expecting their first child in March. CHRISTIAN SAGLIE (1996) After graduating from PaliHi in 1997, Christian earned a BFA in musical theater from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he directed and acted in several stage productions. Christian, 28, also attended law school in San Diego before moving back to Los Angeles, where he worked at top talent agencies and management companies in the entertainment industry. These days, Christian is focusing on a career in music. In 2007, he created Broadsound Studios (www.BroadsoundStudios.com), a company that creates original music for film, television, radio and the Internet. Christian is also the assistant to a well-established composer in West Los Angeles. He remains active in the local community and has hosted the Mr. and Miss Palisades contest two times. NOAH KARP 1999 At 25, Noah is a graduate of Cal State University Long Beach with a degree in creative writing. Noah, who worked as a copy editor at the Long Beach Union, is currently taking a poetry class at UCLA. A true Renaissance man, Noah has a wide range of interests, including Zen philosophy. He performs ‘poi,’ a form of fire twirling, and works as a personal trainer at Spectrum in the Palisades. SEAN FRIAR (2001) For the talent portion of the teen contest, Sean played an original composition on the piano. Today, composition is still the main thrust of his studies. In 2007, Sean, 22, earned degrees in music and psychology from UCLA. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in music composition at Princeton University as part of a four-year Roger Sessions Fellowship. In June, he won a prestigious Morton Gould Young Composer Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. In addition to composing, Sean continues to perform as a piano soloist and has sung in choirs at UCLA and Princeton. TOMMY SOBEL (2002) In 2007, Tommy, 22, earned a degree in biology with an emphasis in neuroscience from Duke University. For the past two and a half years, he has been working on a research project at the UCLA Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center. His work will appear as a chapter in an upcoming academic book. Tommy, who made a film for his Mr. Palisades talent, also works as a production assistant at Kennedy/Marshall Company, a film production firm in Santa Monica. His most exciting career moment so far has been working as the personal assistant to the executive producer on the set of the upcoming Indiana Jones movie. ANNE MARIE BARRETTE (2003) A senior at Stanford University, Anne Marie, 22, is majoring in biology. For the past two years, she has also been working for a biotech company in Palo Alto and doing research in a multiple sclerosis lab on campus. Anne Marie finds the work very exciting because it uses cutting-edge technology that very few people have access to. She plans to apply to medical and graduate schools and hopes to pursue a career in medical research studying rheumatoid arthritis. When she isn’t working or studying, she plays intramural volleyball and plays the piano. She also loves cooking and is starting a food blog. RILEY KARP (2004) After one year at USC as a music major, Riley, 20, switched to Santa Monica College. Now, he is planning to transfer to a UC campus in the fall. Even though he wants to change his major to earth sciences, Riley still finds time for music. He plays jazz and classical piano and has performed for private parties and has been hired as a studio musician. When he isn’t studying or performing, he works part-time at Santa Monica Music Center. JAY SOBEL (2005) At 19, Jay is a sophomore at UCLA where he lives on campus. Jay, who made a film for the Mr. Palisades contest, began his college career as an economics major but is thinking about switching his major to film. He has been very active in starting a new fraternity that is due to open this semester. For the past few years, he has also been working as a camp counselor at St. Matthew’s summer day camp.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
