Visual senior Njari Anderson was crowned Mr. Dreyfoos on March 29 at the fourth annual Mr. Dreyfoos Pageant. The event, hosted by A Prom to Remember, featured a competition among students in a male beauty pageant. They competed to raise money to fund a prom for children with cancer.  Between backstage antics, charity work, and a promposal, Anderson enjoyed both the preparation and the show.

THE MUSE: How does it feel to be Mr. Dreyfoos?

ANDERSON: It feels pretty good. I don’t really wear the name a lot. It’s kind of just an inside joke for the senior class at this point. Honestly, I think it’s really hilarious because all my teachers call me that, like Officer O. calls me “Mr. Dreyfoos.” It’s not my name, but it’s hilarious and sometimes I wish I was actually Mr. Dreyfoos.

THE MUSE: How does it feel to know you’re supporting A Prom to Remember?

ANDERSON: I was really happy to be a part of raising money. I actually signed up last year, but due to reasons internally, they weren’t able to put the show on. I was extremely motivated by the cause and that they were trying to raise money for a prom for kids who don’t get the opportunity to have a traditional one. Knowing that I could help contribute and raise money for that was a really big [deal] for me.

THE MUSE: Did you prepare for the trivia questions?

ANDERSON: Oh, absolutely not. My friend [band senior] Aidan Dixon and I were going to find the whole Dreyfoos guidebook and read up on all the facts, but we were so frazzled with prepping for the promposal, prepping for the talent show, and prepping to make sure we had all our outfits and everything ready that we completely forgot. I’m pretty sure I speak for everybody that when we got to the trivia portion, we just kind of winged it.

THE MUSE: How did you get the idea to do your promposal while on stage?

ANDERSON: I was motivated to do Mr. Dreyfoos to raise money, and then, out of nowhere, I was texting a friend of mine at the same time about how I was running out of time and needed to get an idea [for a promposal]. I was going to do it at the park originally. Then, I was like, “Oh my god, I’m doing Mr. Dreyfoos in a week.” So I’m just like, “It would be amazing if I could just do it on stage with all those people.” I was going to do a private promposal, but then everybody said, “No you have to do it in public!” So, you know, that was the best place to do it. I literally texted [communications junior] Sasha [Monaco] the day that she announced the Mr. Dreyfoos list and I was like, “Can I do a promposal?” and she said, “Yes! Just let us know what you need!”

THE MUSE: How did you prepare for the talent section?

ANDERSON: The talent section was really funny because Aidan [Dixon] and I initially were like, “Okay we’re going to do a rap; it’s going to be cool,” and literally three days before Mr. Dreyfoos, we go, “Okay so we haven’t written anything.” So we spent the next two days—including the day of the show, weekends, lunch, and five minutes before the show started—writing. We were just constantly throwing back words to add in another line between each other. Also, trying to figure out a good pacing [was difficult]. 

THE MUSE: Did you become close with any of the other contestants through this competition?

ANDERSON: I was already friends with a lot of the guys. There were a couple of people that I wasn’t as familiar with, but I think the comradery did grow a bit. It was just a thing we could laugh about by the end of it. I know I won, but I feel like everybody there, just for helping the cause, was Mr. Dreyfoos in my eyes. So even though I was already friends with a lot of people there, I do think my friendships with them grew stronger.

THE MUSE: How do you feel about the outcome of the event as a whole?

ANDERSON: I thought it was really successful. I wish there were more people there just to come and support a cause like that. We did get the total for how much we did raise, and it was a great number [1,074], so I was happy about that. I’m just trying to think about how much more we could raise if there [had been] more people there. But other than that, I thought it was a very good night.

THE MUSE: What was your biggest challenge preparing for the competition?

ANDERSON: Honestly, trying to explain the promposal to everybody because, like I said before, I told everybody about what they were supposed to do about five minutes before. I had to make sure the person I was asking would actually show up and that they wouldn’t go to the bathroom while I was on stage. We didn’t know any of the scheduling, so it was just trying to figure out all of these logistical things and to make sure they all fell in place the way they needed to.

THE MUSE: What did participating in this event really mean to you?

ANDERSON: To me, I did it primarily for the fundraising aspect. I like having the opportunity to help in whatever way I can. I think more people should sign up and more people should attend because even though it’s sort of a gag thing, being it’s a male beauty pageant, there’s a larger importance that is associated with the name. It didn’t matter if I won that night; I was happy as long as I was a participant. So to me, that’s the greatest part about it.

THE MUSE: What was your favorite part about preparing for this competition?

ANDERSON: Watching Mark Silver roller skate backstage. He played “Tequila” [by Dan + Shay] on the saxophone, and he was killing it backstage. We were in the boys’ dressing room, and we had a group “Tequila” sing-off, and he was just jamming. It was the early stages of preparation, but he was a definite highlight.