An ONU (Olivet Nazarene University) student pursuing a major’s degree in film studies participates in the campus theater to raise his talent for drama. The latest play he was scheduled to perform and based on a true story is titled These Shining Lives. He does all this to pursue his career goal of being a filmmaker that can positively impact lives through stories and character arcs.
Lucas White, who has traveled from Clinton, Illinois to enroll at ONU, has shared in an interview why he chose the university as a place to pursue his desired goal of graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Multimedia Communications – Film Studies and the opportunity to influence others. He revealed that he wanted to make movies since he was a kid. He described how he felt impacted by the movies he watched and wanted to do the same thing most filmmakers did and still do which was impacting lives through stories and character arcs.
Lucas explained revealed that what drew him the most to ONU is the opportunity to travel to Los Angeles. The Multimedia Communications major offers students opportunities to study film making in Los Angeles through the LA Film Studies Program as part of the educational requirements for graduation at ONU. This was confirmed by his close friend and fellow student at ONU Graham Hughes who described White’s excitement for this internship. Hughes described in an interview how Lucas’s interest in the Olivet Communications Department and Film program has stemmed from that excitement pushed him through his educational courses. Hughes later commented that Lucas’s love and talent for drama is not sequestered to film as he is an avid supporter and participant in Olivet’s theater program also.
Along with a major course in filming, Lucas White became a member of the production team for the Olivet Nazarene Theater. White stated that the reason for this was because he was persuaded by his academic advisers in order to reach the number of credits required to be a full-time student who normally receives financial aid for tuition payment. Since then, he became an avid supporter and participant in Olivet’s Theatre program and has been included in many on-campus’ productions. These performances Lucas participated in include Broadway Review, Twelve Angry Jurors, and Rabbit Hole.
Lucas was scheduled to perform in the latest ONU Spring play titled These Shining Lives which is based on a true story. In this play, Lucas described the character he was cast for as the main villain who was fighting female employees in court over the company’s misuse of chemicals in uranium in pursuit of profit without care for its employees. However, the recent Corona virus outbreak caused the university to shut down, thus cancelling the play along with all other school activities on campus.
For more information on Lucas White and the theater he performs in, follow the following links: https://www.olivet.edu/musical-theatre https://www.facebook.com/OlivetTheatre
Studying film making became Lucas’s dream ever since he was a boy and overcame many challenges in his course at Olivet Nazarene University. He described it as be a “challenging course to study” and used his performances in the theater as an opportunity to raise a potential filmmaker’s talent for film making. He quoted being in the theater as a “wonderful thing being with wonderful talented people and good friends.”
