Yeshiva College Arts Festival

Behind the Scenes With Yoni Leitner

Many students participated in this year's Yeshiva College Arts Festival in one way or another. Some helped with the planning, others performed or displayed their impressive works of art, and still others sat in the audience and watched attentively as their fellow classmates put their reputations in jeopardy.

One student was present at every Festival event. You may have seen him parade up and down the room with his trusty camcorder, often sticking his microphone in the faces of startled and unprepared attendees. This student collected eight hours of pure, unadulterated festival footage. He then spent over sixteen hours of his own free time editing that material, creating a half-hour documentary that was viewed at the Festival's closing reception. This student has seen the beautiful and the ugly. He has boldly gone where no camera man has gone before. His name is Yoni Leitner and his mission is impressive.

I took Yoni into a dimly lit room deep within the confines of our sometimes mysterious campus. There, he revealed to me his hidden thoughts on the Arts Festival. All his secret knowledge spilled out in a stream of consciousness that held no prisoners. The following is our transcribed conversation:

AK: Okay, the first night of the Arts Festival. The opening concert. Give me all the details.

YL: Well, at first we didn't think anyone would show up, it was already 8 PM and no one was there… then out of the clear blue, everyone piled in! Pickholtz was great. The violinist was amazing, I don't remember his name but he stunned the audience. Later, he said to me, "I was horrible!" I said, "You sure fooled us, man." Then those wacky Galena twins got up. Everyone went wild. The disco part by Rappaport was pretty interesting. All and all, it was an incredible night.

AK: Next came the poetry reading. What did you think of that?

YL: It was a very artsy environment. They had sushi! Sushi! Last year we didn't have sushi… it should be served at all events. Forget about Dougies! Yishai was a great host. Everyone did their little spiel, read their poems. Some works were deep, sad, depressing. Some happy and funny. Dr. Lee seemed to get into it. It was a pretty calm, cool, Village-type event. Nothing crazy.

AK: The dramatics presentation was scheduled for that Wednesday, but was canceled last minute. In its place, Rabbi Carmy gave a speech on art and religion. Give your thoughts on his speech, maybe adding in your own opinions on the subject matter.

YL: Um… Rabbi Carmy gave a… very interesting, scintillating speech. Dr. Lee asked good questions. The students asked good questions. Everyone asked good questions. Let's get to the next event, shall we?

AK: Well, Sunday was the student art display. Dig out those memories.

YL: Dig out those memories… Who do you think you are, Oprah? Well, the art was awesome. It gave good exposure to all the students in our school who are artistically talented. Who would think people in YU and Stern could paint like that? People walked in and were just blown away by this art.

AK: What was the strangest piece on display?

YL: This tiny picture… from far it looks like just a square paper with dots. When you look real close, you see that the dots are really little people running in a marathon. I though that was cool. All the art works were strange in their own way.

AK: The Classical and Jazz Ensemble took place the following evening in Schottenstein.

YL: "Yeah. The recital hall was packed. The deans brought their friends. Everyone got into it. The jazz teacher, Dr. Bart, is so cool. He grabbed a trumpet with one hand and another trumpet with his other hand and started playing each one like it was nothing. Very impressive. I liked the way he joined the rest of the ensemble. You don't see that very often… teachers joining in with their classes. I must say that I thought the flutists (note: they were girls) were pretty cute. In fact, all the ladies who came from Stern were gorgeous throughout the events and I think I'm in love with all of them. Aaron you better not be putting this in.

AK: Alright, what did you think of the short story night?

YL: Sorry bud, I missed it. That was the night I edited all the Festival footage.

AK: Okay, it looks like it's time for the Big One. The Event of Events…. drum roll please… The Closing Reception. I've heard all the lurid details of the evening from the YU gossip club. Take me there. Recreate the evening for me.

YL: I'm telling you, that evening had everything… girls, drama, suspense, food, and, of course, my video. I'll set the scene. It was a cold night, the night of the 18^th. I'll never forget that date. People strolled into Belfer's Weissberg Commons. Everyone was well dressed. There were even waitresses. People were in suits. Fruit cups were on the table. Very classy, I must say. Morris Katz, the famous painter, was there. The deans once again brought their friends. There was a big screen to show my movie. The food was great, like attending a formal event… the Golden Globes with a twist.

Well, Shalom Bersson, who was in charge of the dramatic presentation, introduced Mordechai Levovitz. He came out and started to do his thing… I don't know what his thing was, but he did it and he literally got carried away. And I mean literally. The audience was a bit confused, shocked. Steve Bernstein came on and did three songs. He was incredible. They didn't do the dramatic presentation for obvious reasons. Then the awards were given to all participants. This was very noble of the coordinators to do. It was called the Benji Joffe Award, I think. Then my video came on and woke everyone up. I introduced myself and rolled the tape. The audience loved it! People were on the floor laughing at certain parts. I got a lot of compliments, it was tres cool.

AK: Was making this video difficult? What did you learn from this experience?

YL: It was very difficult. I had to cut so many scenes out because people were constantly picking their noses in the background! It was so hard to find a scene where someone actually wasn't picking their nose…