To view the entire Mr. MHS photo gallery, click here.
It’s spring again, and that means seniors only have a few weeks left of school. With their graduation date quickly approaching, and upcoming weeks of year-long, carefully planned events, by far one of the most memorable and farewell events for the seniors is Mr. MHS. The annual show is produced and hosted by English teacher and Maldonian advisor Jim Valente along with senior hosts Rory Milan and Jonathan Solomon.
On Wednesday, Apr. 27, the Mr. MHS show was held in the Jenkins Auditorium, featuring senior contestants Ronald Luke, Blue and Gold member Liam Elliot, Kelvin Cheng Bo, Lincoln Ibanda, Matthew Acuna, Christopher Ansaldi, Ralf Jean and Richard Melgar. These seniors entertained the crowd with their various talents, teacher impressions, swimwear modeling, and hot seat interrogations.
Each senior contestant had an escort, who walked with him arm-in-arm out onto the stage. Elliot was escorted by Haley Hoffman, Luke by Gabrielle Casaletto, Cheng Bo by Samantha Forestier, Ibanda by Jacqueline Smith, Acuna by Edith Lemus, Ansaldi by Megan Gilligan, Jean by Lucia Quesada Nylen, also a member of The Blue and Gold, and Melgar by Izadora Noga.
The show kicked off with an opening number choreographed by Valente and the contestants. This number allowed the contestants to leave their first impressions not only on the audience, but more importantly the judges. Acuna was first introduced, followed by the rest of the seniors, including Ansaldi who began to twerk while Luke started doing “the worm” on stage.
After their opening number, the contestants showed off their beach bodies in the swimwear portion of the competition. Each competitor walked onto the stage, and individually modeled their best beachwear with their escort by their side.
Following the swimwear competition was the first round of the hot seat questions. In this part of the competition, the seniors were asked a couple of questions that they had to answer on the spot. The contestants had been preparing for the show all week, and were randomly pulled out of class to be put on the hot seat at any given time prior to the night of the show. There was no telling what the next question would be.
The next portion of the competition was casual wear. In this part, the seniors showcased their everyday wear, which allowed the audience and judges to get a taste of their fashion sense. The competitors came out in a variety of outfits from jeans and a t-shirt, to khakis and a sweater.
Next was the part of the show that had the audience overwhelmed with laughter. This part was the talent show. Acuna’s talent was “How to Be Hispanic.” He showed the crowd the three basic things you need in order to be Hispanic: how to roll a burrito, how the “chancla” is more than just a sandal, and how to property take a “siesta.”
Following Acuna, Melgar performed the hit “Don’t” by Bryson Tiller, which definitely wooed the crowd. Elliot attempted to make balloon animals as his talent, and shortly after he began, became frustrated with the balloons and walked off stage.
Ansaldi’s talent was that he could identify any food while blindfolded just by tasting it. He was given baby food, dog food, and his least favorite, Mac ‘n Cheese. Cheng Bo’s was next, and his talent was karate. He used his impressive skills to chop raw spaghetti in half. Both Ansaldi and Cheng Bo were assisted by their escorts, Gilligan and Forestier.
Jean surprised the crowd with his talent: magic tricks. He brought up audience member Zaki Greige to assist him in performing an impressive card trick, as well as making a stuffed animal disappear in his top hat. Finally, Ibanda’s talent was how to be a good linebacker in football. He taught Milan the proper techniques that he uses on the field against MHS varsity quarterback Jared Martino.
As the show began to conclude, and the winner of the competition was closer to being determined, Valente’s “favorite” part of the show as he described, the teacher impersonations, began. All of the contestants had to ask a member of Malden High School’s faculty for permission to impersonate them beforehand.
Acuna was the first to go, impersonating Marilyn Slattery, the house principal of Holland House. Ansaldi was up next. He attempted to take on the persona of English teacher Beverly Nyman, who is set to retire at the end of June.
Other impersonations include Cheng Bo as math teacher Genoveva Mateeva, Ibanda as recently retired football coach Joseph Pappagallo, Melgar as gym teacher and boy’s track coach Jayson Payeur, Ralf as boy’s lacrosse coach Brenden Maney, Luke as baseball coach Kevin Carpenito, and Elliot as history teacher Greg Hurley.
Last, but most certainly not least, was the formal wear portion. During this part, the seniors dressed in their finest and most dapper clothing. The majority of the seniors wore suits. Valente noted that he had never seen them look better.
Before the formal wear portion came to an end, the seniors competed in a “freeze-dance” contest. They were asked to dance until the music stopped, then freeze exactly where they were. This contest lasted for a few minutes, resulting in multiple freezes and a crowd full of laughter.
While the results were being added up, Mr. Brown made a special appearance on stage and received a standing ovation in honor of his upcoming leave, and for receiving the 2016 Mr. MHS honorary award. He had a few words for the seniors and all of the audience members, announcing how he will “always bleed blue and gold” no matter where life takes him.
Right before the winner was crowned, and runner ups were announced, each contestant answered a question from one of the judges, and explained why he should be this year’s Mr. MHS. Ansaldi was named second runner up, Luke first runner up, and even though it pained last year’s winner and now alum, Joshua Cronin, to give up his title, Richard Melgar was crowned as Mr. MHS.
Congratulations to all of the seniors who competed, and to Ansaldi, Luke, and Melgar who continuously impressed the audience and judges throughout the entire competition.
