Fresh faces are breathing new life into the lungs of a nearly forgotten club.

After being placed on the back burner by former officers, the theatre club Alpha Psi Omega (APO) almost vanished until a group of students decided to take up the torch and revitalize the organization with a major focus on performing.

“Because APO is a theatre organization, you can’t just have meetings and a few workshops to keep the club afloat,” said APO President Mark Bryan, a liberal arts senior. “The big part about theatre is performance, and if you’ve got a theatre group that doesn’t do performances, the club goes down the drain.”

APO is a national honorary on campus, with a main focus on helping interested students gain opportunities to become involved in a show if they cannot be involved in a main stage performance. According to Bryan, it was his experience with APO that helped him become involved in the college stage after he gained a lead role in APO’s first production, “Thriller,” a dinner theatre piece.

“I think that if it weren’t for doing that show, I probably would’ve had a harder time getting more involved with the department and the main stage shows,” said Bryan. “I think it’s important for everyone to have the same experience I did years ago before the club went under.”

APO aims to provide for students the chance to be involved in all aspects of theatre, including acting, writing, directing, stage managing, advertising, producing, dramaturgy and improvisation. Members will be able to learn the techniques of the trade all in a relaxed setting that the officers believe gives a sense of closeness.

“I was ecstatic and wanted to bring APO back in order to educate actors who wanted to know more about the theatre world, while making them feel at home as fellow actors,” said APO Vice President Dani deMontluzin, an English senior.

Veronica Gutierrez also believes that APO can be a safe haven for students.

“I feel that APO can be that,” said Gutierrez. “A place of expression, of betterment and progress and, in its own time, a family.”

According to deMontluzin, APO was unable to flourish in the past because members were focused on the projects and achievements of the campus theatre program, but Bryan believes he and his new officers will shape up the organization.

“We were all pretty close friends before we decided to take this on together, so we mesh very well, and each of our individual strengths is definitely showing,” said Bryan.

On Aug. 24-26, APO’s first event to kick off the fall semester will be a production of “The Bald Soprano,” directed by APO Secretary Kayla Turner. Turner, a chemistry sophomore, was ecstatic to be able to have this opportunity to expand her love of theatre.

“Theatre is something I hold near and dear to my heart,” said Turner. “I felt that not being able to do it practically all of the time would be just a sin and a shame.”

The first meeting of the fall for APO will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 5 p.m. in D Vickers Hall, Room 225. The officers have been working throughout the summer to create interactive meetings to help actors build upon their skills, such as audition tips, character development, improv workshops and a playwrighting competition.

“We plan on doing a lot of cool things,” said deMontluzin, who revealed APO will plan a production where the cast will create their own characters. “People won’t even have an opportunity to be bored.”