The MTHS drama department’s first production of the 2019-2020 school year was “Quilters,” a musical based on the book “The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art” by Patricia Cooper and Norma Bradley. The musical itself was written by Molly Newman, with lyrics and music composed by Barbara Damashe. The Terrace production featured an all-female cast, and a live pianist performing songs to accompany scenes from the musical.
“Quilters” follows the different stories of pioneer women in the American West, sharing the tragedies and adventures of their daily lives. Each story is told in a small segment called a “block,” wherein each cast member assumes a different character and tells a new story.
There were a lot of bumps in the road, we had to get over the stress and make sure everyone including myself was mentally healthy and getting through the process that was difficult. But in the end, we made a great show.
— Anabelle Sumera-Decoret
The story of “Quilters” does not follow a singular straight-through, easy-to-follow plot. Instead, each story is told separately, but every story is connected to each other in some way. For example, in block 13 the main character Sarah builds a log cabin with her children, showing the hard work of pioneer women. Later, in block 15, “Crosses and Losses,” that same log cabin burns down in one of the most dramatic and intense scenes in the musical, which features the actresses coughing and falling over.
These scenes demonstrate the struggle that pioneer women went through during their lives, and the hard-work that often gets taken away from them in the blink of an eye.
Another important part of “Quilters” is the theme of abortion and the risk these women put their lives in when by having so many children. Multiple scenes in “Quilters” are about women fearing pregnancy and having abortions to save their lives. It may be a difficult topic to ponder, but the musical sheds light on these problems that women have had and continue to face.
Possibly the most important theme of “Quilters” is the theme of memory and leaving one’s mark on the world during life. In this musical, the characters left their mark by sewing quilts and passing them down through the following generations.
“Quilters” had an abundance of positive feedback from the audience. “They were amazing!” and “I’m so proud of these girls!” are just some of the exclamations of support made by the audience following the performance.
However, there was a chance that “Quilters” would not be performed in Terrace’s theater this year. Originally, the drama department was going to perform “Curtains,” a musical by Rupert Holmes, but it was canceled due to a casting shortage.
Ella Seavers, one of the actresses in the department, says that the drama department planned two more musicals, “Quilters” and “Godspell,” in hopes of making it to national judging. Thus, time was limited to prepare for this production.
“There were a lot of bumps in the road, we had to get over the stress and make sure everyone including myself was mentally healthy and getting through the process that was difficult. But in the end, we made a great show,” sophomore actress Anabelle Sumera-Decoret said.
Fellow sophomore actress Hannah Fisker-Andersen believes that the drama department put on an excellent show despite the barriers the team encountered along the way.
“I feel the performance is going well, a lot of stuff happened behind the scenes where we had to change things around, but we did really well for what was going on,” Fisker-Anderson said.
Despite the challenges, the MTHS drama department put on a wonderful show to start off the 2019-2020 school year.
