Quilters

CAST

SARAH McKENDREE BONHAM	SHARLIEGH THOMSON
JENNY	CALI JACOBS
MARGARET	CASSIE CUTTING
LISA	AMANDA LATTANZI
DANA	SOPHIA SHAY
JODY	EMILY TRUBEY
JANE	ALEXANDRA FLAMMIA

 

Quilters
Producer	PAUL MROCZKA
Director	ELIZABETH DAILY
Music Director	CONSTANCE CHESEBOROUGH
Choreographer	LISA TRAVIS
Stage Manager	ALICIA EDGAR
Assistant Stage Manager	KELSI BUCKHAM
Scenic Design	MATT KIZER
Lighting Design	MICHAEL PORTRIE
Costume Design	NICK COCHRAN
Makeup Design	NICKE MORRIS
Master Painter	SYDNEY MAVILLE
Master Electrician	MATT KADAM
Properties Master	JILL MITCHELL
Assistant Props Master	CAITLIN LINDSAY
Light Board Operator	CHRISTIAN SIMPSON
Deck Drew	NATHAN REICH
Wardrobe Supervisor	SYDNEY MOQUIN
Wardrobe	ALEXIS COUGHLIN
Dramaturg	JACOB TILTON
Costume Crew	LEANNE BURGESS JORDAN SHUEY
Electrics and Carpentry Crew	IMANNE GORDON JORDAN SHUEY ANDREW HOTHAM
Lobby Display	VIRGINIA FISCHER
Musicicans
Piano	CONSTANCE CHESEBROUGH
Flute	BRIANNA MERCIER
Fiddle	LARRY BLAINE
Guitar I/Banjo/Mandolin	PAUL WARNICK
Guitar II/Sound EffectS	MICHAEL CATALUNA
Bass	ARTHUR GRADY

 

DIRECTOR’s NOTE 

 It seems for certain if you own a quilt then there is a story behind it. Whether the story is about the individual who designed and made the quilt, or about those who wore the clothing represented by the revenants that became part of the design, the quilt has a legacy. It is through these legacies in cloth that we can touch our past. It is in honor of this rich tradition and to those who taught other generations about this legacy, that we pay tribute through this performance. Each of the quilt blocks displayed has an individual story. 

The text of this play comes from a mélange of many women’s voices. Although the story centers around a pioneer woman and her six daughters, the pieces of lives presented are from the actual images and remembrances of many women quilters recorded in an oral history. These women were pioneers themselves or had come as children with their parents to homestead and already in their 70s and 80s when their memories were compiled. Their varied stories contain images of our vast countryside and reinforce feelings of deep family connections and convictions. As thee women made their lives on the frontier, their quilt blocks or “patches” came to represent many of life’s challenges, rites of passage, tender memories and dangers. The blocks’ names such as Country Crossroads, Double Wedding Ring, Rocky Road, Secret Drawer, Crosses and Losses, and Tree of Life allude to these kinds of experiences. By assembling the pieces into a larger mosaic, the courage, passion and dignity of these women are truly evident.

Quilts are a beautiful record of family and community history and ultimately an expression of how one individual sees the world. Each thread, each stitch, guarantees that the artist will be perpetually illuminated in the cloth by the choices of design, pattern and composition. One quilter’s husband proudly exclaimed that his wife was truly an artist, as “she’s one that makes the light shine.” Another quilter saw quilting as analogous with life. “You can’t always change things. Sometimes you don’t have no control over the way things go…. And then you’re just given so much to work with in a life and you have to do the best you can with what you got. That’s what piecing is. The materials passed on to you. Your fate. But the way you put them together is your business.” These quotations are taken from The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art by Patricia Cooper and Norma Bradley Allen which provides all the stories of this production.

Please enjoy these “pieces of women’s lives.”

 

Company Biographies

CONNIE CHESEBOROUGH (Music Director) is the Collaborative Piano Coordinator for the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance at Plymouth State University. She is a classical pianist who enjoys musical theatre. At PSU she directed the music for Jerry’s Girls, Quilters, IolantheAnd Romance, RomanceAnd served as the pianist for numerous other productions. At Jean’s Playhouse in Lincoln, NH, she was a pianist and music director for several years. Her favorite shows include The Man of La Mancha, Side by Side by Sondheim, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Fantastiksand Tintypes.

CASSIE CUTTING (Margaret, Various)  is a sophomore Theatre Arts major with an option in Music Theatre Performance. Past roles include Sweet Charity(U/S Charity, Betsy,) Hairspray(LouAnn,) Les Miserables(Cosette,) Into the Woods (The Baker’s Wife,) You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown(Sallie Brown,) and The Little Mermaid Jr (Ariel.) She would like to thank her friends and family for the support they’ve given that has allowed her to be here doing what she loves. And a special thanks to the amazing women that have made this experience so incredible; I love each and every one of you.

ELIZABETH DAILY (Director) is a Professor of acting, voice/speech and American Sign Language at Plymouth State University.  She received her MFA in Acting from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro; she is also a teacher of the Alexander Technique, recently completing her training at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee.  Recent directing credits include: Mary Poppins, the devised physical theatre work Shadows, Merrily We Roll Along, The Birthday Party, Dottie, Dracula and Love, Loss and What I Wore.  Professional acting credits include roles at The Barnstormers, Winnipesaukee Playhouse, North Country Center for the Arts, New Hampshire Theatre Project, Advice to the Players, Stage One Productions, Canterbury Shaker Village, the Belknap Mill Society and Little Church Theater.  Last summer, she appeared in Deathtrap(Helga ten Dorp) and in the fall of 2019 will appear in The Beauty Queen of Leenane.  Thanks to a wonderful production team and the ladies past and present who have performed this beautiful piece of theatre.

ALICIA EDGAR (Stage Manager) is a Senior at Plymouth State University with a degree titled Performing Arts Production.  Alicia has been seen in multiple areas of the theatre, both onstage and off. This is her first time filling the role of stage manager, although she has been the ASM.  She is also a choreographer and has been choreographing children’s theatre for several years. She is also a performer herself, some of her recent theatrical highlights include Cats and Evita.  Alicia hopes to continue working in the theatre wherever she can and wants to thank PSU for giving her the opportunity to stage manage.

ALEXANDRA FLAMMIA (Jane, Various) is a senior Theatre Arts major with a option in Music Theatre Performance and a focus in Stage Management. Alexandra was last seen in PSU’s production of Mary Poppins (Jane), as well as A Dream Play (Stage Door Keeper), Oedipus the King, and Romeo and Juliet (Juliet). She would like to thank her family and friends for all the support they give her.

CALI JACOBS (Jenny, Various) is a senior at Plymouth State. She is a double major in Theatre Arts/Musical Theatre and Music Contract/Vocal Performance. This will be her fifth show at Plymouth State University. Past performances include: Stage Kiss (Laurie/Millicent,) Merrily We Roll Along (Beth’s Mother/Ensemble,) A Dream Play (Solicitor,) and A Christmas Carol (Jacob Marley/Martha Cratchit.) This will be Cali’s final production at PSU. She is grateful to have lived and presented the story of Quilters with this amazing group of women. Cali would like to thank Beth, Connie, and Lisa for making her final production such a wonderful, memorable experience

AMANDA LATTANZI (Lisa, Various) is a sophomore Music Theatre performance major originally from Hudson, MA. Previous shows at Plymouth State University include Mary Poppins (Ensemble) and Sweet Charity(Elaine). She has also performed at The Hanover Theatre in Worcester, MA in Guys and Dolls (Adelaide) and Shrek (Teen Fiona/Blind Mouse). Amanda is in the all-girls a Capella group on campus, Mixed Emotions, as well as Plymprov, Plymouth State’s auditioned improvisational comedy troupe. She gives a special thanks to her friends, family, and the entire Quilters team.

SOPHIA SHAY (Dana, Various) is a senior Theatre Arts major with an option in Music Theatre Performance and a minor in Dance at PSU.Some of her previous credits include Mary Poppins (Mrs. Cory), Sweet Charity (Rosie), and Merrily We Roll Along (Ensemble). She also spends her time singing in PSU Chamber Singers and choreographing her own dance pieces. This show has meant the world to her and she would like to thank Beth Daily, Connie Cheseborough, Lisa Travis and her fellow sisters for making her last show here so close to her heart. As she takes her final bow, she will be thinking of all of her friends and faculty that have become family throughout her time here at PSU. Thank you!

SHARLEIGH THOMSON (Sarah Bonham) is a Theatre Arts student, with options in Music Theatre Performance and Dramatic Writing who is graduating Magna Cum Laude this May. Plymouth State Credits include:A Man of No Importance (Mrs. Grace,) Oedipus the King (Terisias,)Merrily We Roll Along (U/S Gussie, KT), and Mary Poppins (Bird Woman, Mrs. Brill). Sharleigh is overjoyed to have spent the last four years on the Plymouth State stage. She thanks Beth for her constant support, and Connie for being her collaborator for four years. She dedicates this role to Dr. A…”there are glasses to raise in the praise of surviving the day.”

 

ACT ONE

“Pieces of Lives” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cali Jacobs, Ensemble

“Rocky Road” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ensemble

“Little Babes That Sleep All Night” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Amanda Lattanzi

“Thread the Needle” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ensemble

“Cornelia” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . .Amanda Lattanzi , Ensemble

“The Windmill Song”. . . . . . . . . . . . Sophia Shay, Alexandra Flammia, Ensemble

“Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ensemble

“Butterfly Song” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emily Trubey

“Pieces of Lives” (reprise) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ensemble

“Green, Green, Green” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cali Jacobs

“The Needle’s Eye” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ensemble

 

ACT TWO

Entr’Act: “Hoedown” (traditional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .The Band

“Quiltin and Dreamin”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cassie Cutting, Ensemble

“Pieces of Lives”(reprise) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ensemble

“Every Log in My House” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ensemble

“Who Will Count the Stitches?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sharleigh Thomson, Ensemble

“Never Grow Old” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Emily Trubey, Ensemble

“The Lord Don’t Rain Down Manna” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ensemble

“Dandelion”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ensemble

“Everything Has a Time”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sharleigh Thomson, Ensemble

“Hands Around”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ensemble

THERE WILL BE ONE 15 MIN INTERMISSION

Produced by special arrangement with Dramatist Play Service Inc.

 

AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like gratefully to acknowledge the inspiration derived from the original quilt design “The Sun Sets on Sunbonnet Sue” as designed and executed by the Seamsters Union Local No. 500 of Lawrence, Kansas, and the inspiration provided by Grace Snyder and Nellie Snyder Yost in their book No Time on My Hands.

The authors would also like gratefully to acknowledge the following text and individuals as invaluable resources in the development of the play: New Discoveries in American Quilts by Robert Bishop; American Quilts and Coverlets by Robert Bishop and Carleton I. Stafford; Marguerite Ickis; Our Homes and Their Adornments by Almon C. Varney; American Folk Poetry – an Anthology by Duncan Emrich; Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey by Lillian Schlissel; Aunt Jane of Kentucky by Eliza Calvert Hall; Pioneer Women – Voices from the Kansas Frontier by Joanna I. Stratton; “The Prairie Home Companion,” Garrison Keilor, Minnesota Public Radio; A Little Better Than Plumb by Henry and Janice Holt Giles; A Harvest Yet to Reap – A History of Prairies Women by Lind Rasmussen, Lorna Rasmussen, Candace Savage, and Anne Wheeler; Wisconsin Death Trip by Michael Lesy.

 

  

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UPCOMING EVENTS

On the heels of their tour in Puerto Rico, the PSU Chamber Singers are joined by University Chorale in performances of Leonard Bernstein’s timeless musical hit “West Side Story.” Exploring

themes of prejudice, discrimination, immigration, and cultural traditions, the show is made even more relevant through our study  of society’s current struggles with these same issues

April 13 @ 7pm and April 14 @ 2pm

Silver Center Staff

Director	STUART CROWELL
Events/Business Coordinator	SUREYA ENNABE
House Manager	SUSANNE HASTINGS
Assistant House Managers	DEB ESPOSITO, TRACEY DICKSON, CLAIRE MCIVER
Technical Director	BOB BREUMMER
Assistant Technical Director	HEATHER MANFREDI
Master Electrician	MICHAEL PORTRIE
Box Office Manager	RYAN PICARD
Box Office Staff	JANAYSIA GETHERS HANNAH DEANE KAELLI GEHRUNG MEREDITH KRUEMMER KATHERINE SERVANT CHRISTIAN SIMPSON NICOLE TARTAGNI SHARLEIGH THOMSON EMMA WADE
Ushers
Production Staff
Costume Shop Manager/Resident Designer	DANEE R. GRILLO
Costume Technicians