'Lonely Planet' crew receives Full Company Award

For an instant the room was silent, his gaze had been caught by the plaque that now covers the cream-colored wall. The tiny shake in his voice and the glimmer in his eye told me before he did.

"I am so proud of this cast and crew, said Kevin Doolen, director of the "Lonely Planet."

The hard work of the "Lonely Planet" cast and crew in November paid off when they received the rare honor of the Full Company Award in the mail from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in February. The award recognizes not only the talent of one individual, but also the talent of everyone who worked on the production.

The cast had only two actors, Bryson Baker and Nick Leos. But don't be fooled by the size of the cast — more than 70 people worked on the play. Every prop or stage design was important to the play, from flying chairs to each handmade brick to the custom designed wood floor, said Doolen, who is also head of the Theater Department.

The play itself left an impact on the audience as well as the cast and crew. It centered on the controversial topic of AIDs in the '80s and the fear people had toward the disease.

"To help the actors understand what the play called for, we took them to the Oklahoma City Memorial to show what it means to be a part of a community that has been hit by tragedy," said Maria Beach, the play's literary and historic adviser. The play was about friendship and relationships as much as it was about AIDs.

The friendship between the two characters and the intense emotional scenes was a task that built the actors' skills.

The caliber of acting required for this play could be measured by the ability of these two men to portray sheer honesty on the stage, Doolen said. The actors went through hours of intense training to portray the emotions of their characters.

"The character's emotions were brought to the surface daily during rehearsals and performances to a point that after it was all over I would feel like something was missing," said Leos, who played the part of Carl.

The theater department will continue to be a cultural outlet for the university and the community with the debut of their musical, "Thoroughly Modern Millie," in April.