|
Quilters
By Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek
Music and Lyrics by Barbara Damashek
Directed by Jay Schueller
Accompanied by Jeanine Olson
Produced by Marty Wallin
February 13-15 and 19-22, 1998
The Pipestone Performing Arts Center
|
Based on "The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art"
by Patricia Cooper and Norma Bradley Allen
The Cast
(click here to view cast biographies)
Sarah . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Elfriede Peterson
The Daughters (and all additional characters)
Darin
Denison, Deb Heller,
Julie Jacobson, Becky Thielsen,
Gwen VandenBerg, Danelle
Wildermuth
The Songs and Quilt Blocks
Used to Tell These Women's
Stories
Act 1
"Pieces of Lives". . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Rocky Road". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .Rocky Road
"Little Babes that Sleep All Night . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . Dugout
. . . . Featuring Katie
"Thread the Needle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . .Babies Blocks
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .Childbirth
"Cornelia". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . Rebel Patch
"The Windmill Song". . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . Windmill
. . . . Featuring Frankie and June
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.Robbing Peter to Pay Paul
"Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb" . . .
. . . . .Baptism
"The Butterfly". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . Butterfly
. . . . Featuring the Nurse
"Pieces of Lives" (reprise)
"Green, Green, Green". . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . .Schoolhouse
. . . . Featuring Lily
"The Needle's Eye". . . . . . . . . .. .
. . . .Four Doves in a Window
- Fifteen-minute intermission -
Act 2
"Quiltin' and Dreamin'. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . Lone Star
"Pieces of Lives" (reprise). . . . . . . . .
.Double Wedding Rings
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . Secret Drawer
"Every Log in My House". . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .Log Cabin
"Who Will Count the Stitches?". . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Never Grow Old". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . Country Crossroads
. . . .Featuring Sarah
"The Lord Don't Rain Down Manna". . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . .
"Dandelion". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . .Crosses and Losses
"Everything Has a Time". . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .Tree of Life
"Hands All Around". . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . The Legacy Quilt
. . . .Featuring Sarah
Production Staff
Director . . . . Jay Schueller
Producer . . . . Marty Wallin
Stage manager . . . . Sylvia Newell
Set and lighting designer . . . . Jay Schueller
Light board operator . . . . Galen Dalin
Sound board operator . . . . Tom Hansen
Follow spots . . . . Ethan Heller
Properties master . . . . JaNeil Peschon
Properties assistants . . . . Grace Miersma,
Katie Ness, Rachael Trygstad
Costumes . . . . Joy Melcher, Becky Thielsen
Publicity . . . . Karin Denison, Grace Miersma,
Bruce Kurtz,
Katie Ness, JaNeil Peschon, Chris Schut, Marty Wallin
Ticket Handling . . . . Becky Thielsen,
Boundles Ideas
Musians
Accompanist . . . . Jeanine Olson
Flute . . . . Tiffany Gillin, Maranda Sash
Guitar . . . . Arnold Higgins
Assistant musical director . . . . Karin
Denison
Rehearsal accompanists . . . . Karin Denison,
Becky Thielsen
From the Director
I would like to thank the calumet
players for providing me the opportunity to direct this musical.
When the actors were going over the music the first week, they were
looking at me with eyes like that of an eagle looking on a rabbit.
But after the fist week of rehearsals, they started seeing all the
meanings of the scenes and started "living" the characters
Most accommodating during this run as
been the staff at the Pipestone Performing Arts Center, who helped
me find everything that I needed to make this production fly.
You should know that this theatre is set up better than half the
theatres in the Twin Cities, especially for its size. It is an
extremely flexible space, allowing any type of performance - a
perfect space for performing.
Also, I would like to tell you how
greatly I have been treated here in Pipestone. I have
never been in a production where the whole town was so helpful in
getting it on its feet.
Jay
Schueller
Special
thanks to...
The ushers of the Pipestone
performing Arts Center; those who assisted with tickets; KLOH-KISD Radio and the Pipestone County Star; Progress, Inc.;
Diane Bucher and the staff of Boundles Ideas; Monk's Secondhand;
Shelly Wiese and the staff of the Downtown Hobby Shop; everyone
who donated various props for both theatrical and publicity
purposes; Dennis Hansen and Jim Hintermeister; Becky Gray; Sandi
Lanie; Lois Wentzel and Joy Melcher for stepping in at the last
minute with costume help; Bob Carlson and the Pipestone-Jasper
High School music department; the PJHS theater department; The
Sioux Prairie Quilters for their gorgeous quilts; Gannon's, the
Glass House and the Historic Calumet Inn for helping make the
Valentin's Gala a success....
....and Laurie Ness and the faithful
members of her quilt show committee - Joan Kurtz, Jolene
Trageser and Shelly Wiese - for helping bring the see of the
"Quilters" idea to fruition.
From the Calumet Players
The Calumet Players welcome you to this, the second
show of our second full season of community theater at the Pipestone Performing
Arts Center
For Quilters we have been thrilled to host Jay
Schueller as our guest director - who has contributed considerably to this
facility and show with his many creative and technical skills. We
appreciate all the extra hours and effort he put in to enhance the quality of
this production.
If you enjoyed
Quilters and would ever consider
taking part yourself, actors and behind-the-scenes volunteers for our next
production -
All My Sons - will
soon be needed. Watch for notices and contact a Calumet Players board
member if you are interested in joining us.
This year, we incorporated a number of changes with our
box office and ticket prices. Next-door neighbor Boundles Ideas now serves
as the advance ticket sales handler - and tickets for our remaining show will be
available there approximately two weeks prior to opening night on June 18.
Our Sunday matinees are now available to seniors for a one-dollar discount off
the regular adult price of $8. Watch also for more special promotions
throughout the year that will allow additional discounts on tickets.
If you have any questions or input on future shows,
feel free to
call our box office and
leave a message. Thank you again for your attendance today. Enjoy the
show...we look forward to seeing you again.
Catch the last show of the Calumet Players
theatrical season
at the Pipestone Performing Arts Center
Drama
All My Sons . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . June 18-21, 1998
The Calumet Players Board of Directors - 1997
Bruce Kurtz - president; Marty Wallin - vice president;
Karin Denison - secretary; JaNeil Peschon - treasurer; Deborah Heller, Grace
Miersma, Laurie Ness and Becky Thielsen - directors.
Elfriede Petersen (Sarah) - A lifelong Tyler resident
and part-time parish secretary at Danebod Lutheran Church, Elfriede has
performed on area theater stages many times, most often at the Lake Benton
Opera House; she last appeared in Morning's at Seven (1995) at he
PPAC. When not acting she enjoys embroidery, crossword puzzles,
auctions and rummage sales, and gardening. She is married to Donald
and is the mother of four grown daughters (and six grandchildren)- an
experience that undoubtedly prepared her for her role as matriarch of the
six daughters in the Quilters cast. "The characters in this
play are putting together a special quilt," she said. "I hope the
audience will be able to connect each block with the events being portrayed.
Karin Denison (daughter) - A native of North Dakota and
graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, Karin has worked as a
reporter/photographer at the Pipestone County Star for more than two years.
She is an avid pianist, and is involved in activities at First Lutheran
Church and the Al Opland Singers.
Quilters is her third acting
attempt in a Calumet Players show - following
The Fantasticks (1996)
and
Blythe Spirit
(1997) - although Karin has performed in stage musicals since the age of 10,
"Quilters is so accurate in portraying both the joy and the pain of human
experience," she says. "Seriously...you will laugh and cry."
Deb Heller (daughter) - No stranger to the stage, Deb
has appeared in all of the Calumet Players dramatic productions in 1997 -
Ten Nights in a Barroom,
Blythe Spirit, and
I Hate Hamlet. She
sings, also, having participated in church choirs, the Evergreen (Colo.)
Chorale, and currently with the Al Opland Singers. A native of
Marshall, Deb lives in Pipestone with husband Dave, is the mother of sons
Adam and Ethan, and employed as a bookkeeper at MINNEKOTA Farmer's Co-op in
Jasper. As for her involvement in this musical drama, she says, "
Quilters
is about life in general, and the part quilting played in the lives of
pioneer women....but it is really about the joys, sorrows, celebrations and
tragedies we all face throughout our lives."
Danelle Wildermuth (daughter) - At the ripe old age of
13, Danelle is a seasoned theater veteran of the local stage - she counts
four Pipestone Youth Drama shows, three Missoula Children's Theater
musicals, a pair of school dramas and the Calumet Players 1997 melodrama
Ten Nights in a Barroom on
her resume. She recently starred as "Annie" in the PJHS production of
Annie this fall and will appear as "Dorothy" in the upcoming Youth
Drama's
Wizard of Oz. Also an avid athlete, she is the daughter of
Dan and Barb Wildermuth of Pipestone and a seventh grader at
Pipestone-Jasper Middle School. As for
Quilters, Danelle feels
audiences will want to see "the lifestyle and history of pioneer women.
The emotions of what these people went through will touch them."
Julie Jacobson (daughter) - Julie is a Senior at
Pipestone-Jasper High School, the daughter of Jack and Phyllis and a
lifelong Pipestone resident. Previously she has acted in three Calumet
Players productions -
The Diary
of Ann Frank (1995),
The Fantasticks (1996) and
Ten Nights in a Barroom
(1997). Her family also includes brothers Dave and Paul, and when not
on stage she enjoys running, singing, "surfing the net" and reading.
Becky Thielsen (daughter) - Becky is used to being on
the other side of the curtain, having directed plays both for the Calumet
Players and as an English teacher/drama coach at PJHS; this is her first
foray onto the stage since The Nerd (1995). A resident of
Pipestone for five years, Becky's family includes husband Brad and children
Tyler and Anissa. She feels audiences will enjoy the message behind
Quilters. "The heart of the frontier was the devotion of the women.
The most touching moments are those that show the true community. It
makes me appreciate life in a town that has a community."
Gwen VandenBerg (daughter) - Gwen is taking on a "new
adventure" in her life with this first community stage experience. "It
is very challenging and rewarding," she says of her involvement in
Quilters, "not to mention time-consuming..." A native of Pipestone and
attendee of Southwest State University, Gwen is very interested in anything
to do with the arts, and also enjoys gardening and watching old movies.
She is a homemaker and lives in Pipestone with husband Milt and children
Holly (13) and Thomas (7) and is very involved in her children's
lives.
Jay Schueller (Director, Set and Lighting Designer) -
Jay is a freelance lighting designer and technical director form the Twin
Cities, working for the first time with the Calumet Players A recent
theatre graduate of Southwest State University in Marshall, he is constantly
working on productions with never more than a week or two in between.
Most recently he was involved with A Christmas Carol and Miracle
on 34th Street, both new musicals from Troupe America out of
Minneapolis. Other venues include Willmar and Lake Benton, where he
will also direct the upcoming Opera House comedy Harvey. During the summer,
Jay is on staff with the Southern Ohio Light Opera in Portsmouth, Ohio; as
well, audiences can see him on stage from time to time as a ventriloquist.
Jeanine Olson (Accompanist) - Has long been widely
recognize din the area for her keyboarding skills. Organist at First
Lutheran Church, she is a piano and organ teacher as well as accompanist for
the Pipestone-Jasper High School choirs and instrumentalists; previously,
she accompanied the first Calumet Players' musical, The Fantasticks
in (1996), and several children's shows at the PPAC. Jeanine taught
elementary music in Pipestone for 13 years, in turn producing and directing
annual operettas, and was the pianist for the Pipestone High School musical
The King and I. She is married to Dr. Bill Olson and mother to
children Jennifer and Steve.
This production was made possible by a grant from the
Southwest Minnesota Arts and Humanities Council (SMAHC) with fund directed from
the state legislature.
It is produced in cooperation with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
Last Updated: December 12, 2005
