Directed by Jane Donovan, and starring seven local actors portraying Sara Bonham and her six daughters, the play by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek, with music and lyrics by Barbara Damashek, combines storytelling, music and dance to piece together the fabric that makes up pioneer women’s lives. The actors are Sarah Edminster, Albany; Kate Hill, Corvallis; Amanda Lundy, Corvallis; Audrey Perkins, Corvallis; Mary Jeanne Reynales, Corvallis; Danni Simon, Corvallis; and Linda Spain, Corvallis.
Based on the book The Quilters: Woman and Domestic Art by Patricia Cooper and Norma Bradley Buferd, the play takes place on the prairies and in the West during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Nearly 30 stories of humor and hardship in these women’s lives are told, colored by folk, bluegrass and gospel music and infused by lively dances. Quilt patterns are used for structure as the mother figure in the story undertakes the task of creating a legacy quilt, sewing in her family’s history.
The story told through the quilt also tells how important quilting is in the lives of these women. Quilting served the practical function of keeping families warm in the winter, while also giving the women a support base and community. Giving quilts in times of need becomes community service; creating the quilts becomes art.
What Donovan likes about the play is that it is about seeing women’s worth and potential and not seeing boundaries for women.
“They don’t shy away from hard things that women had to make decisions about,” she says, referencing stories of the women’s humorous triumphs as well as the more difficult events they endured.
Quilters opened in New York on September 25, 1984. It was nominated for five Tony awards in 1985 including musical of the year, featured actress-musical, director-musical, book of a musical and score. Since then, the play has been performed throughout the country including several venues in Oregon.
In preparation for the show, Donovan discovered a local network of women familiar with the play in quilting circles throughout the Willamette Valley. In fact, the quilt squares and the legacy quilt used in this production are borrowed from the Mid-valley Quilt Guild, headquartered in Salem, and were the same squares and quilt used in the Willamette University production of Quilters several years ago. Donovan also received assistance from Karen Reynolds, owner of The Quilt Loft in Albany, and Judy Duerstock who came to teach the actors how to quilt.
The cast brings a host of resources with it to the production. Linda Spain, Audrey Perkins, Mary Jeanne Reynales and Sara Edminster are all active in performing arts in Linn and Benton counties. Perkins brings 22 years of experience singing bluegrass with Neal Gladstone and Company. Spain, Reynales and Edminster have acted in plays at The Majestic Theater in Corvallis, and Reynales is a director as well. Amanda Lundy and Danni Simon, the youngest members of the cast, are both sophomores at Crescent Valley High School and perform with the Heart of the Valley Choir. Crew members include Mandee Schell, stage manager, and Erica Jones, costumer. Gary Ruppert served as vocal coach, Caren Luckenbill is music director, Kenny Sernach is props master and Barbara Platt is choreographer.
While there is tragedy and hardship, the stories focus on how the women support each other and prevail. They use humor to balance the sadness in their lives. It is for this reason Donovan chose Quilters for LBCC’s spring production.
“It’s a very hopeful play and we are in not so hopeful times,” she says. “It shows the strength of women and their spirit to overcome adversity and to succeed.”
Performances are May 23, 24, 30 and 31 at 8 p.m.; May 29 at 7:30 p.m. (low cost night); and June 1 at 3 p.m. in LBCC’s Takena Theater. May 31 is an ASL interpreted performance and is the benefit performance for the Performing Arts Foundation Scholarships.
Tickets are $10 general admission, $8 senior/student rate and $5 on low cost night. A 15 percent discount is available for groups of 10 or more. All seating is reserved.
Tickets for Quilters go on sale May 5 and are available at Rice’s Pharmacy in Corvallis, Sid Stevens Jewelers in Albany and the Takena Box office, open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to noon and 2 to 3 p.m. and two hours before performance. For the 24-hour reservation/message line, call 541-917-4531. Visit the Performing Arts Department on the web at cf.linnbenton.edu/depts/performart.
If you require disability accommodations, please call 541-917-4561 at least one week before the performance. LBCC is an equal opportunity institution.
SIDEBAR: QUILT SHOW
The Quilt Loft in Albany and LBCC Performing Arts are joining forces to extend the fifth annual Quilt Show during LBCC’s spring production of the musical play Quilters.
Karen Reynolds, owner of The Quilt Loft, and Judy Duerstock, local quilter, are requesting antique and heirloom quilts, including friendship quilts, for the annual show that features quilts in the window displays of participating businesses on First and Second Streets in Albany. The quilts will be on display May 15, 16 and 17 downtown. On May 17, the quilts will be moved to LBCC, and displayed in the library, the Takena Hall Lobby and inside Takena Theater. Quilters opens on May 23 and the quilts will be on display through the duration of the play dates, ending on June 1.
According to Jane Donovan, director of the LBCC production of Quilters, having a quilt show is a traditional part of the play. The quilts will be available for viewing during the regular business hours of the college. Patrons of the show will also be able to view the quilts in the library half an hour before the play begins on May 24, 29, 30 and 31.
Donovan has received much assistance from Reynolds and Duerstock in preparing for the production. They helped secure many of the quilting props for the play and taught the actors some quilting procedures and terminology.
“I’m so appreciative of LBCC putting on the production,” Duerstock says. “It’s a service to quilters in the area. We all love the musical.”
Some of the quilts on display will come from the Mary’s River Quilts Guild in Benton County and the Santiam Scrappers Quilt Guild in Lebanon. Donations for the show are welcome from community members, too. Anyone interested in donating a quilt for the show can contact Duerstock at 541-791-8808, or Reynolds at the Quilt Loft, 126 Ferry Street, Albany. Quilts can be dropped off at The Quilt Loft Saturday, May 10 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and Monday, May 12 between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m.
Call the 24-hour reservation/message line in Takena Box office at 541-917-4531 for tickets or more information about the play.