The lights dimmed and the familiar song “Zero to Hero” from Disney’s Hercules began to play as the 15 contestants stepped out onto the stage of the Reber Center donning togas and bright smiles to the beat of their synchronized dance routine. The Third Annual Mr. LT Pageant went off without a hitch, eventually ending with the coronation of Chris Velisaris ’17: this year’s Mr. LT.

The show featured numerous talented acts from Luke Brom’s ‘16 “Evolution of Dance”, to Sean Thomas’ ’16 serenade of Abby King ’16. Jack Costello’s ’17 also took a three-minute plunge into a bucket of water while being tormented by Master of Ceremonies Danny Benson ‘16 and Tommy Sopic ’16 singing Jordin Sparks “No Air” and Velisaris performed Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”

The pageant was held on April 2 was planned by Benson, Ryan Byrne ’16 and Director of Student Activities Peter Geddeis since November. Seventy-five percent of all proceeds from the show go to The Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation. Overall, both Benson and Byrne were relieved by the success of the event.

“[The contestants] were all very willing to take whatever we threw at them even when they didn’t think they were going to be able to do it,” Byrne said. “During the show itself everyone was always right where they needed to be. We didn’t really have any mishaps which is awesome when you consider the fact we only had a week to rehearse.”

The initial mantle of leadership was held by Joe Dillon ’15 who created and ran Mr. LT for the past two years. According to Geddeis, however, the transition from Dillon’s organization to Benson and Byrne was relatively seamless and only a few minor tweaks and adjustments were made to the show.

Mr. LT was judged by seven faculty members: Principal Dr. Brian Waterman, Joseph Maffey, Keith Bailey, Jessica Drogos, Leilani Lopez, Gary Morrill and Laura VanWinkle—all of whom which helped narrow down the pool of contestants from 15 to seven during the rose ceremony.

Following the rose ceremony, the remaining seven contestants then faced a Q&A session from Benson and Sopic. After this Velisaris was announced as the winner after the audience texted in their vote.

Velisaris was beaming after his win and was genuinely surprised by the turn of events.

“I thought I was going to be knocked in the first 15.  I’m so happy right now and I think one of the reasons why I won is because my escort Catherine Everett ‘17 has been so good to me. I would like to say thank you to her so much,” Velisaris said. “I wanted to do Mr. LT for school spirit and I love LT so much, I can’t believe I got this award.