On Friday, September 23rd, at 7:00 pm, eleven young men of the senior class competed for the coveted title of Mr. WA. After an evening filled with performances of all kinds, judges Ian Kim, Jenny Kravitz, and Michael Martell selected Yusuf Buxamusa as the winner.

Mr. WA is a school tradition that takes the form of a three-part talent show. In the first, each young man showcases a suit and is judged based on outfit choice. The second portion is the actual talent display, and the third segment is a short Q&A session. Based on all three categories, the judges select one winner to be crowned Mr. WA as well as two-runners-up.

This year’s eleven contestants were Kevin Bicunas, Yusuf Buxamusa, Jack Crossley, Andrew Leung, Kai Jorgenson, Andrew Markoski, Blake McLean, Greg Montemurro, Ethan Parker, Sean Tseng, and Freddy Velsasco.

The program began with the boys walking one by one down the steps of the PAC, accompanied by one or two escorts, to take their place on the stage.  After a short blurb about each contestant, as well as detailed descriptions of each outfit, the show began with Freddy Velasco’s performance on the drums.

Velasco played a short but intense drum piece. About three-quarters of the way through, he threw the audience for a loop when he tossed one drumstick to the side. His escort brought Velasco a sandwich, and the audience roared with laughter as he ate the sandwich while continuing to play with his other hand. After apparently enjoying a mid-performance snack, Velasco picked up the fallen drumstick and brought his performance to a close.

Ethan Parker followed Velasco, performing a taekwondo routine that ended with a bang — literally, as he broke a board in two. His concentration was palpable throughout the silent auditorium. The next contestant, Andrew Markoski, played an emotional rendition of popular song “My Hero” on the piano. He ended the piece with a cadenza, which is an often-improvised addition that is often used by classical musicians.

Jack Crossley was next in line with his vocal performance of Adele’s “All I Ask”. Crossley was greeted by cheers both before and after his performance, and even as he hit the highest notes of the piece, several audience members cheered.

Greg Montemurro took to the stage after Crossley, beginning his performance with the quote from Dr. Seuss: “I said what I meant and I meant what I said.” He then proceeded, with a book of Seuss poems in one hand, to rap the Seuss story “Green Eggs and Ham”. The PAC was again filled with laughter as Montemurro rapped the lines of the famous children’s book so fast that it was hardly audible. He walked back and forth across the stage as he performed, often trying to suppress his own laughter in between breaks.

After Montemurro had exited the stage, the curtains pulled back to reveal musician Andrew Leung’s setup. Using only a violin, a guitar, and a looping device, Leung created a backing track for his song from scratch. The audience was dead silent as Leung’s emotional voice carried through the auditorium. He cut all the looping instrumental tracks to finish on a soft, high note, and a brief moment later the audience burst into applause.

Most were expecting a theatrical performance from the next performer, Kai Jorgenson, who is a member of WA Theater Arts. He announced that he was going to be doing a short reading as he sat on a stool in the center of the stage, and pulled out a book. Then, in a sorrowful tone, he began to read out the address of a house in Chelmsford and audience members began to laugh as they realized Jorgenson was reading from the phone book. He then read out sections of the WA student handbook and ended passionately on a note about locker regulations.

After the laughter and cheers following Jorgenson’s performance, Kevin Bicunas took to the stage for another humorous performance. He posed as the TV Host of a show called “Let’s Paint, Exercise, and Make Blended Drinks”. The audience was in fits for most of his performance, as he explained the significance of arbitrary paint splotches while jogging on a treadmill.

Finally, Bicunas blended creamed corn, dog food, hot sauce, and other ingredients in his “blended drink”. The audience screamed and groaned as he finished the performance by swallowing some of the drink, proclaiming that it was “delicious”. He was the only contestant to receive a standing ovation.

Blake McLean brought the talent night to a more serious note. Following a humorous opening segment about his need for a music stand, McLean rapped a song he’d written about his experience at WA, focusing on the difficulties of moving from Georgia to Massachusetts, and what he’d learned about himself along the way. Everyone paid keen attention to the lyrics as McLean revealed his personal life to them.

When the curtains drew back for Yusuf Buxamusa’s performance, most could already guess what was going on: a ladder stood in center stage and juggling pins were set at various places around the stage. As a rhythmic music number began, Buxamusa entered on a unicycle to cheers from the audience.

Buxamusa left the stage and traveled around the PAC, juggling as he went, and hopped onto an even larger unicycle when he returned. After continuing to juggle as he cycled around the stage, he hopped off and began a series of other acts including juggling atop the ladder and spinning the pins in either of his hands. The audience gasped and cheered as he performed increasingly dangerous feats.

The final performance of the night was by Sean Tseng, who performed a capriccioso on viola. The wistful piece with a recurring melody got more and more intense before leading to a strong finish. After his performance, the audience gave rousing applause for all eleven contestants, ending the talent portion.

As the boys prepared for the Q&A, junior Kate Coffey encouraged the entire auditorium to dance the YMCA so that she could avoid cleaning her room for three weeks, as per a bet with her mother, WA health teacher Lauren Coffey. Accompanied by the other escorts, they succeeded in bringing the entirety of the PAC to their feet as “YMCA” played from the speakers. The contestants rejoined their escorts on stage as they all danced.

During the Q&A, each contestant was asked a question about life at WA, classes, and teachers. Almost immediately after the segment was over, the judges submitted their winner choices and the time came for Mr. WA to be selected. Freddy Velasco was selected as the second runner-up, Jack Crossley as the first, and finally, Yusuf Buxamusa was crowned the winner.

Buxamusa thanked his fellow performers, the advisors, the stage crew, and all other contributors to the show for making his win possible. He also thanked various others for their support.

“I was about to quit the day before the show, no joke […] I just thought I couldn’t do it. But my friends convinced me, and my teachers convinced me, and I guess it all turned out for the best,” he said.