The Brick hosts ‘The Dating Game’
The light, cheerful hum of a game-show jingle plays in the background as the contestants and audience scurry to get ready for the first edition of “The Dating Game” at Milledgeville’s well-known hot spot The Brick. To celebrate the restaurant’s 15 year anniversary in downtown Milledgeville, Frank Pendergast, owner of The Brick, came up with the idea of spending an entire week commemorating its success and kicked it off with Milledgeville’s very own dating game.
While he admits that the original concept to reenact the 1960s ABC game-show was his idea, Pendergast approached Milledgeville native and local personality Christopher Cook to help spice up and host the show. Although he was born and raised locally, Cook, also known as Milledgeville radio personality, Marcus Neiman, spent eight years in fast-paced cities, Orlando and Miami, where he learned a thing or two about night life. Along with his long list of credentials, such as a modeling contract, producing in Paris Hilton’s night club, working with MTV and even releasing his own makeup line, Stark, and clothing line, Stark Raving Mad, (both arriving in January), Cook decided to go back to his roots and add “The Dating Game” to his already abundant resume.
Milledgeville is a constantly growing town that is home to over 6,000 students attending GCSU. Together, Pendergast and Cook are aiming to “bring a good, healthy night life to downtown Milledgeville.” Cook claims that getting the word out was mostly credited to either word of mouth via Facebook or the flyers that Pendergast created to publicize the event.
The fun atmosphere paired with an engaging crowd that came out to witness The Brick’s first performance of “The Dating Game,” which is going to be held on the first Monday of every month, made for a lively weeknight activity. The game consisted of two rounds, the first with a bachelor questioning four hidden bachelorettes and the second round with role reversals.
Round one was kicked off with 21-year-old bachelor “Latin Lover” who asked contestants Lizzy, Katie, Amy and Mandy entertaining questions such as “If you were a vegetable, what would you be and why?” The crowd hooted and hollered as the girls scrambled to come up with creative answers that would set them apart from their competition and stand out to the bachelor, who could not see them. Round two went similarly, though this time it was the bachelorette’s turn to do the questioning.
Contestants consisted of good sports who gladly accepted Pendergast’s request to be up on stage with the hope of winning prizes such as a haircut at Salon 2000 (Cook’s salon downtown) and $50 worth of “Brick Bucks.”
It’s no surprise to anyone who knows a thing or two about downtown Milledgeville, that the ever-growing popularity of The Brick isn’t slowing down anytime soon and the introduction of “The Dating Game” only aids in proving this point. So, happy 15 year anniversary to The Brick.
“Keep your ear to the ground, because you never know what the Brick’s gonna bring,” Cook said.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Sep 19 2008. Filed under Features.
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