The lobby of Wharton Center's Pasant Theatre was full of anxious people waiting for the doors to open for the one-woman performance of "Faces of America."
The show, which only ran on Tuesday, starred Fran de Leon portraying six different people. The characters were based on hundreds of interviews de Leon and her husband, Colin Cox, conducted.
"The first rule was, we wanted them all to be American," de Leon said. "We interviewed 30 people, then 60, then several hundred voices."
The show was sponsored by Venice Smith, a consultant for the Women's Advisory Committee for Finance and Operations, and the Women's Resource Center. Smith first saw the show in New Orleans and wanted to bring "Faces of America" to MSU.
Okemos resident Chris Rhue brought her children to the show to learn about diversity. She said she is interested in exposing her children to as much racism and diversity as possible to help them learn about culture.
"You have to help them feel less alone," she said. "I can't believe one person can do all the characters. It was outstanding. My son is interested in drama, which is why we came."
The first character, a Japanese-Hungarian American, learns about her Japanese roots through listening about her grandfather's story. She learns he immigrated to America and was put in a internment camp during World War II.
Taking a break only to change costume, de Leon came out as an East Indian American. Her character immigrated to American to escape the caste society but falls victim to a hate crime. The audience's eyes filled with tears and its silence was the effect of the character.
Switching the mood, de Leon took the role of a Mexican American who defies the stereotypes depicted about Mexican Americans.
De Leon portrayed three more characters in the play: a black professor, a white liberal who has a racist father and a Filipino- American doctor who learns about the results of faith.
The final character, Fuzzy, is a biracial lesbian. Her ideas are to look at other people not in black and white, but look at them as "fuzzy." She suggests that America will "explode" if it doesn't.
Following the show was a question-and-answer session where the audience was able to ask Cox and de Leon about the characters and also give suggestions.
"To see the show and think about it for 65 minutes and go home isn't enough," de Leon said.
Students said they enjoyed the show because they found the characters interesting.
"She hits topics that a lot of people don't like to talk about," family community services junior Misty Staunton said. "It's unique in a way that this person is able to change characters and portray characters and you look beyond the person she is and see the character."
