Looking forward to Mr. LM
Mark your calendars as the wildly entertaining Mr. LM pageant returns on Thursday, February 26 at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium. Ten senior contestants will answer questions, strut down a catwalk, showcase their talents, and dance in order to raise money for chosen charities.
The theme for the Sixth Annual Mr. LM event, chosen by Director Hana Holquist, is Disney heroes and princesses. Each contestant’s character was carefully assigned with input from the contestants, senior class officers, and design staff. The characters were selected to best reflect the contestant’s actual personalities and interests. The contestants represent numerous classic Disney characters including Prince Eric, Simba, and Kristoff.
The senior class initially organized the Mr. LM event as a fundraiser six years ago. After being asked to help the first year, physics teacher Nora Christman became the sponsor of the pageant and continued to improve it each year. One of the main goals of the event this year was to increase audience engagement and participation. Since last year, the night’s events have been rearranged in order to give the audience more variety. For example, instead of having all of the talent performances in a row, they are scattered throughout the night. The introduction of paper ballots in addition to online voting will also be continued this year. The judging panel will consist of representatives from each grade, faculty members, and last year’s Mr. LM Jack Weinrieb ’14.
This year’s contestant lineup consists of all seniors for the first time in LM history. Due to the high number of applications, the participants had to be limited to seniors, a move from the traditional lineup of many seniors and one junior. In order to participate, contestants had to go through an application and interview process. This year’s lineup includes Danny Avershal, Noah Bender, Gus Daly, Charlie Johnson, Drew Michie, Devon Scharf, Zay Smolar, Michael Stahler, Max Warren, and Darius Williams.
Though the event’s name and usual contestants might suggest otherwise, Mr. LM is not exclusively male this year. For the first time ever, a female student Devon Scharf will be competing. As the sponsor of Mr. LM, Christman describes her excitement about Devon’s participation and explains that “the pageant is not about gender and is more about putting on a humorous show and raising money for charity.”
The pageant preparation had an early start this year, so contestants, choreographers, designers, and sponsors have been committed to perfecting the show since Thanksgiving. Most contestants tried out for the show after viewing previous years’ shows and wanting to experience the fun and humor that they had witnessed on stage. Each contestant performs a talent on the stage, and this year’s talents range from a classical viola solo to hijinks on a Power Wheels car.
Contestant Danny Avershal gave us an inside scoop of his talent, saying that is “mostly musical but it incorporates [his] love for Disney films and Kanye West.” The audience can expect unique creative performances full of surprise elements and not a single dull moment.
Delivering a solid talent performance is one step on the road to victory for the contestants. The winner will be determined through a combination of judging and audience voting. The charity chosen by the winner will receive all the money raised by this senior class fundraiser. Last year’s pageant fundraised $7,000 for a charity that teaches writing to inner-city children, and this year Christman aims to raise $10,000. Charities chosen by contestants this year include Engineers Without Borders, in which volunteers travel across the world to establish infrastructure and other needs in impoverished areas; and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to researching and providing treatment for those with blood cancer.
Join the contestants on February 26 and witness the culmination of everyone’s hard work in a charitable evening full of laughter and fun. In Christman’s words, “It’s gonna be a great show.”