The 2011 Coffee House, which took place in the Commons on Nov. 2, has been deemed as a great success by the coordinator.
Language arts teacher and Coffee House Coordinator Tracy Gladden said, “It was more successful than past years. Everyone seemed more prepared to do what they needed to do. The sound people did awesome this year. It sounded great.”
Gladden, who teaches the Creative Writing class, also sponsors the literary magazine, The Pulp. The money made at Coffee House from tickets and refreshments went directly to fund the magazine.
“We made enough money to publish our literary magazine,” Gladden said.
Prior to auditions, Gladden asked her students to get involved with Coffee House, which is how senior Karen Flavin became one of the audition judges and hosts for the event.
“I am in Ms. Gladden’s Creative Writing class. She asked us to get involved in any way we could because we create the literary magazine and Coffee House funds it. I was one of the hosts. I love being on stage, so it was fun. Everyone was very talented,” Flavin said.
Including Flavin and the other two hosts, there were about 50 people involved with the production of the show.
“There were 20 performers, five artists, helpers, ticket sellers and concessions sellers,” Gladden said.
The acts this year included poetry, guitarists, duets, a cappella vocalists and pianists.
“There were the most diverse acts there have ever been,” Gladden said.
Senior Michael D’Errico, one of the 20 performers, played guitar and sang for his fourth year in a row.
“I have played every year. I did the open-mic freshman year, but have had an actual act every other year,” D’Errico said. “I like how comfortable it is. It is great to go up and show off. I love playing and watching everyone else play. I would definitely recommend that others participate in the future. It is just really fun.”
The performers weren’t the only ones displaying their talent during the night, as tables were set up with the work of five LHS artists. Senior Alyssa Byars was displaying her work at Coffee House for the first time.
“I hung back and let people observe my work. It makes me nervous to have my work displayed,” Byars said.
And though she was nervous, Byars said she enjoyed the event and the opportunity to display her work.
“I definitely think it’s a fun event. I didn’t get any real criticism, but it’s nice to show people what you’ve done. It gives something back for everything put into the art,” she said.
Gladden responded positively to this year’s artists.
“We had five outstanding artists. I can only hope that next year we have more,” she said.
When asked if any changes need to be made for next year’s performance, Gladden had little to say.
“I enjoyed the two acoustic guys during intermission. I think from now on we should have music playing before and after the show as well,” she said.
This year, there was one major change seen from previous Coffee Houses.
“There were way more people than I thought would come. We had to add extra seating, and even then there were people standing in the back and upstairs,” Gladden said.
She said the both large and diverse crowd added quite a bit to the night.
“The crowd was so respectful and encouraging. Everything was not perfect, but everyone was ok with that,” she said.
Among the crowd was first-time Coffee House attendee junior Alex Moll, who explained the importance of the event.
“I thought Coffee House was really good, and everything just seemed to go really well the whole night. I didn’t know a lot of people I knew could sing like that, and it’s awesome to know more about my friends,” Moll said.
