QUILTERS
by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek
Directed by SUE LAVIN
Musical Direction by TERRY LEE
ENSEMBLE
“A Mother and Her Six Children”
KRISTIN CARLSON
SHIRLEY EAVES (Mother)
HOLLY FREEMAN
JANICE FORBES
ANNIE GARRETT
PEGGY MUNDINGER
RUTHIE PARRISH
“A Mother and Her Six Children”
KRISTIN CARLSON
SHIRLEY EAVES (Mother)
HOLLY FREEMAN
JANICE FORBES
ANNIE GARRETT
PEGGY MUNDINGER
RUTHIE PARRISH
JERRY GASAU (Guitar), TERRY LEE (Piano),
SUZANNE NADEAU-PORTER (Violin), SHELLY WARREN (Flute & Piccolo)
Produced & Designed by LON WINSTON, TRTC Executive Artistic Director
Prop Designer JUDY BENSON
Lighting Designer BRAD MOORE
Choreography by LAURIE THOMPSON & SUE LAVIN
Stage Manager LAURIE THOMPSON
REVIEW - Quilters good down to every last stitch
by Trina Ortega,Valley Journal
Maybe it was the feeling of pride stemming from a weekend steeped in Colorado history. Maybe it was a new-found appreciation for the detailed, intricate handwork that goes into making a quilt. Or maybe it was the plain fact that the ensemble cast of “Quilters” and the accompanying orchestra were just darn good.
But I left the Thunder River Theatre on Saturday night (the same day of Potato Day events) pleasantly content, having received a treat for both ear and mind.
The Thunder River Theatre Company (TRTC) is presenting the musical “Quilters” for three more nights, Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 9-11.
Whether you’re interested in theater, talented vocalists, pioneer history, or fabric arts, the Roaring Fork Valley community should see this top-notch performance.
“Quilters” follows the recountings of a homesteader, Sarah, as she prepares to make her legacy quilt that represents the joys and hardships of her life. It is presented in 16 separate scenes, the 16 blocks of the quilt that are the “pieces of their lives.”
Written by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek, who also composed the music and wrote the lyrics, “Quilters” was first produced by the Denver Center Theatre Company in 1984. It garnered six Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical.
The TRTC production is directed by Sue Lavin (who has worked with the Hudson Reed Ensemble and Aspen Theatre and who last directed for TRTC in 2006 with
“The Complete History of America, Abridged”), and musical direction is by Terry Lee.
Seven locals make up the cast — Kristin Carlson, Shirley Eaves, Holly Freeman, Janice Forbes, Annie Garrett, Peggy Mundinger, and Ruthie Parrish — who have a range of experience on the stage and are hugely talented vocal arts performers.
The opening song is upbeat and forceful highlighting the piccolo and violin that, in the vein of Aaron Copland, invokes imagery of the Western frontier. It immediately sets the tone and engages the audience, along with the surround sound-style effect of the actors singing while entering the theater from different doorways.
The compositions that use the entire ensemble blow the roof off the theater. I wondered if the entire town of Carbondale was stopped in its tracks during the triumphant closing song,
in awe of the seven-part harmonies blended with the music of Lee on piano, Jerry Gasau on guitar, Suzanne Nadeau-Porter on violin, and Shelly Warren on flute and piccolo.
As TRTC Artistic Director Lon Winston noted, the music is difficult and complex and the vocalists have poured themselves into their work. “They’re willing to reveal their inner selves,” Winston said.
Eaves portrays a convincing matriarch: strong, hard-working, comforting but firm. A wise, motherly personality is reflected in her proud voice as she recites adages from her papa, preaches about the number of stitches in an inch, states that a quilt is like a family album, or sings about the healing hands of a quilter.
Many of the cast fall easily into place in different roles as children, men of the prairie, wives, daughters, or teachers. Some scenes are humorous (Forbes portraying an awkward lovestruck male in the Double Wedding Rings Block scene) while others are uncomfortably poignant (Parrish and Carlson portraying sisters trying to abort a fetus in the Shadow Block scene).
Prominent on and off stage, are the quilts. Foremost, the blocks and quilts used in the production are the handwork of local seamsters organized by valley quilter Emma Danciger. The magnificent legacy quilt originally was used in the Colorado Rocky Mountain School production of “Quilters” (1988) and again in the Colorado Mountain College show (1991).
Several audience members remained after the TRTC performance to study the legacy quilt, as well as the exhibition of modern quilts showing in the lobby of TRTC.
Lavin, Lee, the cast members, the supporting community quilters and Thunder River Theatre should deem “Quilters” a proud accomplishment, down to every last stitch.
TRTC Home Page
Photos by Steve Mundinger
by Trina Ortega,Valley Journal
Maybe it was the feeling of pride stemming from a weekend steeped in Colorado history. Maybe it was a new-found appreciation for the detailed, intricate handwork that goes into making a quilt. Or maybe it was the plain fact that the ensemble cast of “Quilters” and the accompanying orchestra were just darn good.
But I left the Thunder River Theatre on Saturday night (the same day of Potato Day events) pleasantly content, having received a treat for both ear and mind.
The Thunder River Theatre Company (TRTC) is presenting the musical “Quilters” for three more nights, Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 9-11.
Whether you’re interested in theater, talented vocalists, pioneer history, or fabric arts, the Roaring Fork Valley community should see this top-notch performance.“Quilters” follows the recountings of a homesteader, Sarah, as she prepares to make her legacy quilt that represents the joys and hardships of her life. It is presented in 16 separate scenes, the 16 blocks of the quilt that are the “pieces of their lives.”
Written by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek, who also composed the music and wrote the lyrics, “Quilters” was first produced by the Denver Center Theatre Company in 1984. It garnered six Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical.
The TRTC production is directed by Sue Lavin (who has worked with the Hudson Reed Ensemble and Aspen Theatre and who last directed for TRTC in 2006 with
“The Complete History of America, Abridged”), and musical direction is by Terry Lee. Seven locals make up the cast — Kristin Carlson, Shirley Eaves, Holly Freeman, Janice Forbes, Annie Garrett, Peggy Mundinger, and Ruthie Parrish — who have a range of experience on the stage and are hugely talented vocal arts performers.
The opening song is upbeat and forceful highlighting the piccolo and violin that, in the vein of Aaron Copland, invokes imagery of the Western frontier. It immediately sets the tone and engages the audience, along with the surround sound-style effect of the actors singing while entering the theater from different doorways.
The compositions that use the entire ensemble blow the roof off the theater. I wondered if the entire town of Carbondale was stopped in its tracks during the triumphant closing song,
in awe of the seven-part harmonies blended with the music of Lee on piano, Jerry Gasau on guitar, Suzanne Nadeau-Porter on violin, and Shelly Warren on flute and piccolo.As TRTC Artistic Director Lon Winston noted, the music is difficult and complex and the vocalists have poured themselves into their work. “They’re willing to reveal their inner selves,” Winston said.
Eaves portrays a convincing matriarch: strong, hard-working, comforting but firm. A wise, motherly personality is reflected in her proud voice as she recites adages from her papa, preaches about the number of stitches in an inch, states that a quilt is like a family album, or sings about the healing hands of a quilter.
Many of the cast fall easily into place in different roles as children, men of the prairie, wives, daughters, or teachers. Some scenes are humorous (Forbes portraying an awkward lovestruck male in the Double Wedding Rings Block scene) while others are uncomfortably poignant (Parrish and Carlson portraying sisters trying to abort a fetus in the Shadow Block scene).
Prominent on and off stage, are the quilts. Foremost, the blocks and quilts used in the production are the handwork of local seamsters organized by valley quilter Emma Danciger. The magnificent legacy quilt originally was used in the Colorado Rocky Mountain School production of “Quilters” (1988) and again in the Colorado Mountain College show (1991).
Several audience members remained after the TRTC performance to study the legacy quilt, as well as the exhibition of modern quilts showing in the lobby of TRTC.
Lavin, Lee, the cast members, the supporting community quilters and Thunder River Theatre should deem “Quilters” a proud accomplishment, down to every last stitch.
Photos by Steve Mundinger