-at The Duke’s Open Mic Night

SINGING along to a song under your breath, in the bathroom is often very pleasing because your melodies bounce off the walls and back to your ears but, why stifle the remarkable talent when you could take the stage at The Duke’s “Open Mic Night” on May 16, 2018.

Stage fright might be a thing of the past after a welcoming round of applause from the audience and the bright spotlight shines on you that night.

If that does not calm the butterflies, the ambience that you will find as you walk up the stairs and into the Duke will most definitely give you the motivation to rock the stage.
“People have all this talent and we wanted to find a way to bring that talent out; the Open Mic Night will be opened to everyone,” said Manager of the Duke, Amber Low, during an interview with The Buzz on Tuesday. “We had initially planned to start with poetry and spoken word but the response we got was overwhelming to the extent that people even asked if they could come and sing.”

Their plan is to host the activity every month and probably even do themed nights so that singers, musicians, poets and persons from all walks of life with a particular skill would get an opportunity to reveal their talent.

Low said persons have already expressed their excitement to take part in and even witness the open microphone session.

Aside from live entertainment, persons would also be able to enjoy fine dining, drink specials and a diverse menu which ranges from creole food, steak, fine dining cuisines, sumptuous burgers for those who might want to indulge in fast food and even a kid’s menu.

Since The Duke opened its doors recently, Low said they received great feedback from customers especially because the establishment is the first art gallery and restaurant.
One would expect that the extravagant decorations were shipped from the United States of America (USA) or crafted by the some of the most established artists from across the world but, if you take a closer look, everything was made using everyday things, what some might call garbage.

“We wanted to create a really organic and free space for people…all of the art and decorations that we displayed are from local young artists who are upcoming and have all this talent but there were no windows and opportunity for them,” said Low.
Lights were attached to tree branches, table centrepieces were made from used bottles and some of the incredible cushions were handmade by students of the David Rose School for the Handicapped.

“Soon we are going to have an auction to sell the cushions and the proceeds will go to the school; also the art we have on display is up for sale and the proceeds go back to the artists while some of them prefer to let their earnings be given to a charity of their choice,” she said.

The management of the establishment wanted to find a way to give back and the art community seemed fitting to benefit from their initiative.

In the coming months, they will also be opening a studio that could be used for doing art, photo shoots and so forth. Low said anyone would be able to utilise it for free.
“They will also be able to do shows because we want to see our people shine,” the manager said.

Persons who are interested in experiencing the art, talent and even the ambience of The Duke, they just have to go down to Duke Street opposite the American Embassy from 17:00hrs every day.