"Quilters" isn't your normal play. And neither is the Iowa State University Theatre's production of the musical this November and December.
That's one of the unusual aspects to the show. "Quilters" will be performed Nov. 9-11 in Fisher Theater. The cast and crew will then take a three-week break before returning to the stage for the final three shows Nov. 30 and Dec. 1-2 in this special production, which is part of Iowa State's Sesquicentennial Celebration.
"We (ISU Theatre) haven't done this before," said Jane Cox, professor in ISU Theatre and the play's director. "It's not an ideal situation but it's the only way we could do a third show this fall and not bump into Dead Week (the week of classes prior to Finals Week at Iowa State).
"We'll do brush-up rehearsals when we get back to campus after Thanksgiving."
"Quilters" is a musical by Barbara Damashek and Molly Newman. That's a second unusual portion of the show.
"It's hard to describe the music," she says. "There are several different styles and sounds. There are hymns, other songs that are almost gospels and then there are waltzes.
"There are not very many solos with most of the songs typically choral numbers."
There is even a segment when the characters sing along to a "patty-cake" rhythm.
"Quilters" features Kaytee Stearns as Sarah, the mother of a pioneer clan on the American plains in the 1800s. The other characters in the all-female cast are six daughters. The Iowa State actors portray the daughters are varying ages throughout the production – hence the "patty-cake" song.
"Each daughter is portrayed as a child, an 18-year-old, a 40-year-old," Cox said. "The students are zeroing right in on the characters as children and the 18-year-old, but the roles are much more challenging as the characters get older."
The daughters are played by Tami White, Meghan Sigwarth, Kayal Kaufmann, Ellen Provorse, Janae Hohbein and Mariana Seda.
"Quilters" was inspired by a project organized by the Smithsonian Institute as well as a variety of journals and books. The show celebrates the struggles and fortitude exhibited by the women of the Plains through the interconnection between life, family and quilting.
The musical blends a series of interrelated scenes into a rich mosaic, which captures the sweep and beauty, the terror and joy, the harsh challenge and abiding rewards of frontier life.
"We see a lot of different aspects of life both sad and tragic," Cox says. "It shows you what life was like for pioneer women. But more than that it shows what any of us have to do to survive.
"It plays tribute to the generations who have gone before us and the triumph of the human spirit. The pioneers, including women like the ones portrayed in ‘Quilters' could have folded up and gone back to where life was easier. Instead they stuck it out."
Tickets are $16 for adults, $14 for seniors and $9 for students and children and are available at the Iowa State Center Ticket Office at 515-294-2479.
