Mr. Woodlands, the annual male beauty pageant of The Woodlands High School, took place recently at McCullough middle school on March 19th. Although there were many students competing, the only real loser of Mr. Woodlands was the McCullough sound system.
This year, Mr. Woodlands sponsored Texas’s Rainbow Rooms. Rainbow Rooms are 24/7 resource centers designed to supply items to children who are victims of abuse or neglect; carrying items such as clothing, diapers, school supplies, etc.
Starting off the night, our host, Jack Pirtle, introduces us to our ten “brave, semi talented young men” who are striving for the crown. With the curtain opening, our eyes are greeted with a synchronized dance choreographed by TWHS’s Highsteppers. This dance had a lot of things happening all at different times, but it was a fun and energetic start to the event.
Next, while we wait for the contestants to get ready for the next event, TWHS’s Improv Troupe plays a game with the audience. They played Dating Game, a game where three members of the Improv Troupe play different characters and an audience member is brought up to try and guess which characters they are playing.
Then, we have their date walkout. This is the part where we get to see the contestants come on stage with the date they brought to the show while wearing matching costumes. We start it off with Gus and Bridget as Mr. and Mrs. Klaus. Alex, and his date Josie, go as Ken and Barbie. The event starts to gain momentum as Dani and Maria come on as Troye Sivan and CharliXCX. Following them, we get Grady and Ainsley as Flynn Ryder and Rapunzel from Tangled. Callum and Halle join them as Shrek and Fiona. After that, Henry and Ashlyn come out as Danny and Sandy from Grease. Tommy and Mae come out as The Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George. We see Mason and Holly going as Obi Wan Kenobi and Princess Leia. Finally, closing out the date walkout, we have Matthew and Sarah as Batman and Cat Woman.
After this, Ladder to the Moon (Click here for more info) perform their original song Say Goodbye (Forget). Immediately upon the start of the track, we are welcomed with the band’s stunning outfits and captivating stage presence. In my opinion, they were the best interludes throughout the show.
Finally we are officially introduced to our contestants. One thing to note about this section is that each contestant had some facts about them shared while they walked on stage. However, due to the sound system we weren’t able to hear any of the facts so here is a list of the contestants in the order that they come out. Our candidates for Mr. Woodlands are Dani Smith, Jameson Saucedo, Henry Maynard, Mason Maestre, Tommy Meyer, Callum Benson, Matthew Grajeck, Alex Samuelsson, Gus Bickett, and lastly, Grady Barrows.
Now for another act while we wait for the contestants to get ready. Improv comes out again, this time to play the Beastie Boys. A game where two players are given a word and then have to go back and forth adding words that rhyme until someone can’t think of a word.
Next is the part where we get to see all of the contestants perform their talents. We start this section off with Grady’s performance of a country song. Throughout the performance his date of the night, Ainsley, danced alongside him. Following Grady, Gus came onto stage in an outfit and performance reminiscent of Tom Holland’s Umbrella Lip Sync. With this performance of flips and other tricks, Rihanna would be proud. After that, Dani came on in a pink wig with “Super Bass” by Nicki Minaj blasting behind him. During his performance he had a Nicki American flag flying behind him. Then Tommy came on in a Lorax costume doing a lip sync to the Lorax’s “Let it Grow.” His performance ended with him and other contestants jumping around on stage.
After him, Matthew played the guitar–however, there was no microphone connected to his guitar, so most of his performance unfortunately couldn’t be heard. Following this Henry and Jameson–The Boyoyoyz–performed some of their original songs. Next, we had Callum perform a magic trick. He started with pulling up an audience member and then performing various card tricks with him. Second to last, Mason sang Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.” Lastly, Alex performed a lip sync–alongside some of his golf teammates–to “I’m Just Ken” from the Barbie movie.
Now Improv came on one last time to play “Storybook.” In this game the Improvisers have to keep a story continuously going on without stopping it or repeating the last word said, and this game was won by Troupe member Bella O’Brien.
Coming up to the end of the night, they announce the top three candidates Dani Smith, Alex Samuelsson, and Gus Pickett. But before they reveal the winner, they had Ladder to the Moon come on to perform one last original song, “Not a Home.” Now, with every candidate standing on stage, the winner is announced and Dani Smith was crowned the new Mr. Woodlands!
