Another Mr. Hawthorne has successfully come and gone. This year, being the fifth anniversary of the comedic competition, close to seven-hundred people showed up. The auditorium was so packed that the balcony even had to be opened. The competition featured a lineup of junior and senior boys, including Kareem Habal, Christian Wojtecki, Luke Sousa, Mike Dietrich, David Mascis, Marc Crilly, Davius Bunch, George Nadirashivili, Liam Morrissey and Ariton Mimini. Senior Leah Matari and sophomore Carly Spirito hosted the show, while Gabriella Maoli and Christina Guarneri choreographed it. The five judges were Mr. Galluccio, Mrs. Pasquale, Mr. Passero, Mrs. Fusaro and Mr. DiLonardo. The woman behind the scenes, who made the whole competition run was Student Council adviser, Ms. Russo.
The show began with a wonderfully choreographed opening number. Each contestant was clad in camouflage clothing and performed a dance, which featured songs from artists such as Beyoncé and Gwen Stefani. The talent round then proceeded, a crowd favorite. Kareem Habal, dressed as President Obama, rapped a parody of the Drake hit “Back to Back”. George Nadirashivili showed off his tight pants, performing the famous Jimmy Fallon skit (featuring special guest, Mr. McMann). Marc Crilly showcased his musical talent on the guitar, banjo and ukulele, performing covers of Vance Joy’s “Riptide” and Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud”. Ariton Mimini, along with Abdullah Elailla, performed a dance that fused Eastern and Western cultures (Belly dancing/hip hop). David Mascis, dressed as a janitor, danced to a medley of pop songs. Christian Wojtecki performed a classic Four Seasons song. Luke Sousa performed an original comedic skit. Mike Dietrich, along with Rashawn Byfield, showed off their ribbon skills. Davius Bunch wowed the crowd with his performance of Sam Smith’s “Lay Me Down”. Finally, Liam Morrissey showed off his eclectic talent, dancing on a treadmill to Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off”.
Next up was the fashion round. It began with Kareem Habal strutting down the stage dressed as Drake in the “Hotline Bling” video. George Nadirashivili wore a Peter Pan costume. Marc Crilly came out in a large Cookie Monster onesie. Ariton Mimini wore a very interesting cowboy costume, which made the crowd laugh hysterically. David Mascis was dressed as Clark Kent/Superman. Christian Wojtecki wore a very funny cow costume. Luke Sousa wore a trenchcoat, but stripped down into a tight dress, again making the audience laugh. Mike Dietrich came out in a baby costume, crawling on all fours. Davius Bunch, with a Nerf gun in hand, came out as an Army soldier. Liam Morrissey finished off the fashion round dressed up as a pizza delivery boy.
As the judges deliberated the final five, a video featuring past Mr. Hawthorne winners and contestants played, in celebration of the fifth anniversary of the competition. After the video ended, the finalists were announced; Marc Crilly, Mike Dietrich, Luke Sousa, George Nadirashivili, and Ariton Mimini. From there, each judge asked each contestant a question. This narrowed down the final five to one Mr.Congeniality and one final Mr. Hawthorne winner. In the end, Mike Dietrich won the coveted Mr. Hawthorne crown, with Luke Sousa as this year’s Mr. Congeniality.
Student body president, Leah Matari, spoke about this year’s competition, remarking that, “I think that for the past two months the boys and Russo have been working extremely hard to perfect everything.The fact that we sold out the auditorium is a huge accomplishment in itself. The boys did a tremendous job coming out and performing great for the crowd. I’m sad that this was my last show, but I can’t wait to see how the show continues to progress in the future. And congrats to all the boys for making HHS proud.”