Review: One Mic Stand
Piedmont Virginia Community College presented the One Mic Stand February 12 in the Maxwell Theater. The amazing talents of PVCC’s students and faculty were on display to a full house. Acts ranged from soulful, original songs to an exciting and brash excerpt from a novel-in-progress, by up and coming author, Charles Dunn. Brilliant stand-up comedy and stunning dramatic and comedic monologues were also on the agenda. These highlighted the diverse talent of the students. The evening would not have been complete without the heartfelt poetry and spoken word performers that stirred the soul and delighted the mind.
Sam Holland, a second semester student at PVCC, opened the evening with a mellifluous acoustic rendition of three original compositions. The mature and melodic crooning of love and loss was in stark contrast to his youthful appearance. His rich, soothing timbre accompanied by the beautifully arranged and refined acoustic strumming evoked raw emotion with every chord. With the dim lighting in the dark room and Sam’s smoky vocals, the only thing missing was two fingers of peaty Scotch whisky.
Charlie Benz, an up and coming improvisational actor and comedian, charmed the crowd with his comedic debut. His unique brand of physical stand up mixed with a blend of humorous self-deprecation reminiscent of a young Jerry Seinfeld. The school will be seeing much more of Charlie’s performance skills in the PVCC Spring improvisational production of Once is Not Enough. Joe Taglavore performed two congenial apostrophic monologues that ran the spectrum from a dark and brooding conversation with his girlfriend to a sidesplitting dialogue between two roommates. Joe showed his amazing range, poise, and humor on stage that captivated the audience and showcased his comedic talent and flair for the dramatic. Matthew Newton left the crowd wordless as he presented his unique blend of comedic styling with a colorful monologue of a family holiday meal featuring his stone-faced uncle and quick to anger grandmother.
Poets and spoken word artists led the gathered crowd on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. From the battered tenement buildings of Chicago into the idealism of the Freedom Summer and then back into the depths of American domestic and foreign turmoil of the 60’s and early 70’s. In another selection, the theme of family and of a father/daughter relationship were woven eloquently throughout with conflicting emotions, yet obvious love. Another exceptionally gifted author provided a look into the rich and diverse culture of the American south, amazingly delivered through two short stories that captivated and thrilled the audience. The rich descriptions of the virtues and qualities of good cornbread; to the artery clogging, but well worth the heart attack, fried chicken and southern sweet tea which was amusingly pronounced the “origin of diabetes” which brought to life the smells and sounds of the uniquely southern dining experience. In his second piece, he vividly described the internal turmoil that defines the beginning stages of a budding romantic relationship and the ability of bad coffee and Coltrane to create feelings of amity. The author then steered us into the conflicting emotions of making the decision to continue the casual relationship or develop it into something more.
This One Mic Stand was a testament to the wide ranging and diverse talents of the Piedmont Virginia Community College students and faculty being flawlessly executed and conducted by Professor Julia Kudravetz. One Mic Stand will return to the Maxwell Theater on April 9. Be sure to mark your calendar.
