It was January’s installment of the Art House, held the first Thursday of each month at Victory Hall in Jersey City. Thirty adults ages 20 to 60 filled the room, waiting to listen to poems or perform. Host Christine Goodman introduced the show with a call for anyone in the crowd to share their New Year’s resolutions.
“It makes it different when we realize we’re all struggling with the same thing,” Goodman said. “I’m going to go to a new open mic every six weeks. It’s about exposing yourself to artists who might be new to you.”
A few people lined up to share.
“I plan to shorten my plays so they get produced,” explained Duncan Pflaster, who later got up with a ukulele to sing some songs.
“I’ve been trying to write a book for 22 years,” said another man. “I am resolved to finishing up my book by the end of 2005.”
“You have a place to read parts of it,” encouraged Goodman.
Then, the readings began.
“A blank sheet of paper makes for a better poem, yet I wrote these words,” read Bill Rood. Rood also hosts Welcome Words, a spoke word series associated with Artkore which takes place Mondays at Rue De Jardin in Hoboken.
The poems were personal and accessible. Each was unique, although there were some common themes. Many people present expressed that they weren’t in 100 percent agreement with the Bush Administration’s way of doing things – especially war.
Pflaster entertained with his ukulele, starting with a song, Nowadays, and then playing Disgracefully Yours by Richard O’Brien, writer of the Rocky Horror Picture show. His last song was one of those familiar tunes that takes a minute to recognize because it’s being sung by some dude with a ukulele instead of the female rocker who made it famous. But by the end, people scattered throughout the crowd were harmonizing and echoing the backup for Pat Benetar’s We Belong.
A cameraman stood in the back of the room recording the performances for Comcast (Channel 51 in Jersey City, airing Thursdays at 10 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 p.m.) and Manhattan Neighborhood Network (Channel 56 airing Mondays at 5:30 p.m.). The show will repeat throughout the month.
Goodman said that people come from as far as Queens and Brooklyn to attend the readings, and that the crowd which is generally half made up of regulars and half newcomers.
“We have a steady base. About half are new to the event,” said Goodman. “We are happy about that, that we have people who are really committed and come every month, and that we are still reaching out to new people.”
Regulars and newcomers
New York-based poet Matthew Thornburn, read from his poetry book Subject to Change, which has been reviewed by the New York Times.
Ray Bryn, a man with long brown hair, took the stage with his old guitar. He introduced the song, I’ll Take Romance by Oscar Hammerstein, and began thrashing like a heavy metal rhythm player.
He slowed down for the lyrics, “While my heart is young and eager and gay, I’ll take romance,” and broke into another thrash strum.
“Take it baby!” someone yelled from the back of the room.
“Now we’re rockin'” Ray said from his hunched over position.
“Ray is a crazy, funny guy,” said Goodman. “He’s been playing music with us for years. He puts his spin on a lot of the old standards. We encourage that. We encourage people to take risks.”
Hanging on the Wall of Words next to the aisle were poems and one-liners like, “An honest enemy is better than a lying friend,” “Don’t wound what you cannot kill,” and “Roses are red, violets are blue, I am sweet, how are you?”
On the stage, Jeff Glovsky continued, “I crawl back in my skin, crying for freedom from the midnight sun inhabiting this soul I’m done with, stuck inside…like dope deep in the bowels of a junk mule.” He read from his poem “Redemption (sort of).”
The night was a cross section of poetry and music with quirky, brooding, and charismatic personalities.
“There is definitely a scene that has grown and exploded in the last few years, especially in Jersey City and Hudson County,” Goodman said. “We encourage people to talk to each other after the show and tell each other if they like what other people did. It means a lot to artists to be encouraged, and a lot of people made friendships and went on to do events together after meeting at the Art House.” Visit www.arthouseproductions.org.