You can’t win ’em all.
The eighth-grade quartet Art of Play brought a busload of fans and two priests from Morristown to cheer for them Wednesday at Amateur Night in Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater.
But there would be no divine intervention this time, as the boys ran into a singer possessed: 10-year-old Hannah Richardson of Pennsylvania sang like someone three times her age. The audience chose her to advance in the $10,000 competition.
“She was pretty good. She had good showmanship and a great voice,” said AOP keyboardist Ricky Webber.
In hindsight, bass player TJ Coon said maybe the band should have tried another tune (they did the Michael Jackson version of the Beatles’ Come Together) and “moved around more.”
But his mates, who scored with that song in February at the Apollo, took the evening in stride.
“I think we had a great performance,” said guitarist Domenico Randazzo, who got consolation kisses from some adoring young ladies. “We had some tough competition. What can you say? We played the Apollo. It’s pretty cool.”
“You don’t always win every time,” said drummer Tyler Volk. “You gotta keep going with your dream and never give up.”
The world hasn’t heard the last from Art of Play. Next time, the competition won’t have a prayer.
This was probably one of AOP’s better performances, but Hannah Richardson was outstanding. The Apollo is requesting that AOP return for a guest performance at some point in the future. We are in the process of working out the details. More to come.
Art of Play was phenomenal. The groove on “Come Together” had everyone movin’. The ensemble was totally together and the guitar was sonorous! I definitely look forward to seeing them live again!