Meet Mr. Palisades: Tyler DuBovy

In March, Tyler DuBovy, 16, graced the stage at the Palisades Teen Pageant for the second year in a row. In 2006, he was named runner-up, and this year he came back to win. ‘Last year I had so much fun doing it, I decided I had to do it again,’ he says. ‘I would do it again next year if I hadn’t won this year.’ Tyler seems like an obvious choice for Mr. Palisades. A junior at Pacifica Christian High in Santa Monica, he lives in the Highlands with his mother, Jane DuBovy, father Mike Riley and younger brother Casey, 12. He is active in community and school theater, an Eagle Scout from troop 223, starting center on his school’s varsity volleyball team, a lifeguard and an honors student who excels in math and science. It’s truly a wonder that he even has the time to fulfill his duties as Mr. Palisades, but he does. As Mr. Palisades, Tyler attends monthly mixers hosted by the Chamber of Commerce and will get to ride in the Fourth of July and holiday Ho Ho Ho parades this year alongside Miss Palisades, Colleen Benko. He also makes appearances at community events, such as the technology and health fairs, and he recently talked to Chamber Executive Director Arnie Wishnick about getting even more involved in different upcoming events in town. ‘I’m more a part of the community than I’ve ever been before,’ says Tyler, who previously felt slightly distanced from the Palisades, since he has never attended school here. ‘I really like the connections I’ve made at Chamber mixers and I’m sure I’ll love riding in the float at the parade.’ At the pageant, Tyler wooed the judges with his well executed, rapid-fire delivery of ‘Ya Got Trouble [in River City],’ a cross between a song and a monologue, from Meredith Willson’s ‘The Music Man,’ a musical he recently performed in at the Pierson Playhouse. Recently he played Mr. Mushnick in his school’s production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’ and in the past he has played lead roles in ‘Grease,’ ‘Peter Pan’ and ‘The Odd Couple.’ ‘I always loved performing on stage,’ he says. ‘It’s exhilarating and fun.’ For the interview portion of the competition, he spoke about his experience volunteering at acting classes for autistic children and said that if he could meet any person in history it would be John Lennon, because his music and activism is so inspiring. The judges were impressed. ‘It’s interesting being judged by people who don’t know who you are,’ Tyler says. ‘You only get 10 minutes of stage time to show them who you are.’ Tyler’s friends, however, were a bit harder to impress. ‘I thought I was going to get made fun of, but surprisingly they were very supportive of it,’ he says, adding jokingly, ‘They were a little disappointed when I said there was no swimsuit competition.’ On weekends, Tyler and his friends usually meet up at Starbucks for coffee before heading to someone’s house to hang out, or down to the Third Street Promenade to catch a movie. Still, Tyler traditionally spends at least one night per weekend with his mom, whom he is very close with. They’ll have dinner, watch a movie or spend time chatting at home. For now, Tyler is looking forward to summer vacation. ‘Junior year’s been a lot of work, and I’m looking forward to a relaxing summer,’ he says. Tyler’s summer is already pretty packed. He plans to hit the beach as often as possible for beach volleyball, go camping with his scout troop, lifeguard at a pool in the Highlands and get a job or internship related to computers. Since he is applying to colleges at the end of the summer, he and his mom are taking several day trips to preview some campuses. ‘I like California so much that I’m definitely looking for a college to go to here,’ Tyler says. An excellent math and science student, he plans to major in computer engineering and hopes to attend a small engineering college, with a good theater program.