The cast of Blue Valley Southwest’s theater production, “The Laramie Project”, stood before a packed audience of 900 in the Mary Jane Teall Theater in Wichita. Everything the cast had prepared for and rehearsed had all come down to this moment. The cast members then began a performance that would move the entire audience to tears.

On Jan. 5-7, the Southwest Theatre Department traveled to the Kansas State Thespian Conference. The majority of schools from the state attend the conference, but only four from the entire state are selected to perform. Southwest’s production of “The Laramie Project” was chosen.

It was apparent to anyone who saw the production that it was a product of hard work and passion from the cast, crew and directors. Yet the students had no idea that they had received the honor of performing at the state conference until the day theater director Dan Schmidt called the cast into his office.

“I got an e-mail in the second week of December from the State Thespian Conference telling me we had made it,” Schmidt said. “I knew we had a good shot, but I didn’t completely expect this. I was so excited to tell my students.”

His students were eager to hear as well.

“When Mr. Schmidt told us we had made it, we were beyond excited,” senior Mackie Louis said. “We knew we had deserved it, because we had put in so much work, but I had just gotten used to never actually making it to state. I think that the new judging system they’ve started is more equal and fair.”

For others, it was an honor to make it to the state conference so early in their high school career.

“It was a feeling I’d never really experienced before,” freshman Caleb Jenkins said. “In middle school I’d always wanted to go to state in something. I’m only a freshman so it’s kind of like a dream come true. There’s really no words to describe it.”

After the excitement wore off, the cast went back to work, rehearsing and getting details together for the important upcoming performance. When the time came for the conference, the cast loaded up the entire stage set and headed to Wichita.

“The conference is amazing,” Louis said. “We go to workshops. Real, working actors come and teach us and help us with our acting ability. Also, we get to see the best shows from around the state.”

Quickly after arriving to the conference, however, the cast had to begin the setup for the performance that night. There were only a few hours to do so.

“As soon as we got there, we only had a certain amount of time to set up,” Louis said. “It was stressful, but everything was worth it.”

Finally, the climax of the cast’s high school theatrical careers had arrived: it was time to perform.

“We circled up back stage before we went on, and that’s when it hit me,” Louis said. “This was that moment I had been waiting for since freshman year. When this ends, high school ends.”

The audience empathized with every line and emotion displayed by the actors, and was responsive.

“I could hear them crying out in the audience,” Louis said. “It made me more emotional on stage. I felt like the audience and the actors really communicated with each other. It was an intimate setting.”

Despite how well the actors felt about the performance, they will never know whose production was scored the highest. It was not a competition, but a conference.

“Everyone always asks me, ‘Did you win?’,” Schmidt said. “I don’t know. We get judged, but there are no real winners.”

The shows from state conference will be judged and reviewed, and the top productions overall will travel to the international conference in Lincoln, Neb.

“I think we have a really good shot,” Schmidt said. “That performance is in front of 2,800 people. The actors tend to get very nervous – you can see them visibly shaking on stage.”

The actors will find out in three to four weeks if they made it.

“I can’t put it into words,” Louis said. “Most people don’t understand what a big deal this was. It was probably the best experience of my life.”