The Milwaukee Post

July 19, 2013 • Milwaukee Post • 17 Acacia Theatre creates tender, moving 'Quilters' By JULIE MCHALE Post Theater Critic MILWAUKEE – "Quilters," written by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek, was pieced together from the diaries and letters of American pioneer women who were involved in the overland crossing (1841-1856), the largest known human migration in history. Approximately 350,000 people engaged in this brave struggle to settle the West, as the whole stretch of land west of the Mississippi was then referred to. It is a beautiful, inspirational, and often unbelievable story. The Acacia Theatre at Concordia University has created a very moving production of this work. Seven extraordinarily talented women, four musicians and an auspicious crew of technical staff have united their gifts to bring us this unforgettable creation. Like a quilt, the story is a mosaic of incidents, snippets of experience, sewn together with scenes and At a glance "Quilters" stages 8 p.m. show tonight and Friday, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at Concordia University, 12800 N. Lake Shore Drive in Mequon.Tickets are $16 for adults and $13 for seniors 65 and over, fulltime students and full-time clergy. For more information, call 414-744-5995 or visit www.acaciatheatre.com. songs. The musical accompaniment, directed by Jane Foerester, involves a melodic mix of piano and various other stringed instruments. The script depicts a mother and her six daughters. Though occasionally one of the female actors takes on a male role, this play focuses on the role of women in the development of the frontier. Sarah, played by Mary Atwood, is the strong, practical, loving mother. The six daughters, played by a bevy of beautiful, melodic women MATC Foundation receives $50K grant Bader Foundation donation to expand school's Entrepreneurship Center Post Staff MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Area Technical College Foundation has received a $50,000 grant from the Helen Bader Foundation to expand the college's Entrepreneurship Center. The grant is being awarded through the Helen Bader Foundation's Workforce Development grants program, which awards a total of $1.5 million annually to training programs, policy research and job-creation efforts focused on Milwaukee's economically struggling communities. MATC opened the Entrepreneurship Center in April 2012 in conjunction with the launch of its entrepreneurship technical diploma program, the first of its type in the Wisconsin Technical College System. The center provides mentoring and technical support for students, many of whom are already self-employed. "Students who benefit from the center represent the entrepreneurship program, as well as manufacturing, information technology and creative arts programs. Many own businesses that will lead our community region and state in much , needed economic growth," said Katherine Collins, MATC associate dean of business. Jerry Roberts, program officer from the Helen Bader Foundation, agreed. "The city's job growth depends on healthy small- and mid-size businesses, and the Entrepreneurship Center is where those ideas start. We are excited to partner with MATC to ensure those entrepreneurs have access to the tools and support they need to thrive." Armen Hadjinian, MATC entrepreneurship faculty member and adviser to the center, said that more than 100 students have received assistance creating strategy developing customer awareness , and managing finances. "Small business owners who are connecting with the center are now better structured for growth and success," Hadjinian said. "The grant from the Helen Bader Foundation will allow us to expand our offerings to current students, MATC alumni who now own their own businesses and area nonprofit organizations." According to MATC's website, the grant also will support scholarships for students who complete a service learning project with area nonprofit organizations. The students will have the opportunity to apply their education and training in a practical environment and the organizations will receive services that often are not a part of their routine operations. with considerable acting skills (Maura Atwood, Katie Gustin, Abbey Pitchford, Alison Pogorelc, Rachel Tabaska and Ashlea Wieklinski) depict Sarah's children at various ages. They all deliver their roles with depth and credibility. Sarah is the one who passes on the art of quilt making, an art that provided warmth in the dugouts or more vulnerable shelters they occupied before sturdier homes were feasible. Beyond that, the quilts represented their former and present lives, and afforded an outlet for socializing and support, as well as fulfilled their need to make something beautiful and lasting. We experience these women in their play, their work, their marriages, childbirths and childrearing, their losses in bad weather, accidents, diseases, fire or death. It is an amazing example of grit and the bonding that occurs in the midst of trying to survive. We also see the role of religion in their lives as one of their sources of strength and solace. Several stirring hymns are among the many songs that are rendered – "The Lord Don't Rain Down Manna" and "Washed in the Blood of the Lamb" are two moving spirituals. They also prided themselves in their accomplishments – "Thread the Needle," "Every Log in My House" and "Windmill" are moving testimonies to the work of their own hands. Amid the agonies of childbirth, too many pregnancies, and the constant threat of poverty, there was also humor, love, hope and an indomitable spirit that pervaded their lives. From their initial journey to the schoolhouse to the church to the fields to their humble homes, we watch them create an amazingly beautiful quilt from the fabric of their lives. This stunning show, well-directed and choreographed by Janet Bouman Peterson, runs one more weekend. I can't recommend it enough. Five stars to be sure. Lecture THE LIST Theater Patent Searching 101, noon to 1 p.m. July 25, Milwaukee Central Library, 814 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee. 414-286-2142. Milwaukee Comedy Festival, Aug. 1 through Aug. 4, Next Act Theatre, 255 S. Water St., Milwaukee. $15 or $18. festival.milwaukeecomedy.com. Music Etc. Melissa Etheridge, 7 p.m. Saturday, Riverside Theater, 116 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee. $75, $45, $39.50. 414-286-3663 or www.pabsttheater.org. Yard Dog Charlie, 8 p.m. Monday, Polish Center of Wisconsin, 6941 S. 68th St., Franklin. $5 www.accordions.com/mac. Tom Score and Anita Stemper, 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. July 27, Final Approach, 4959 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee. 414-744-7060. Rich Regent, noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, Milwaukee Public Market, 400 N. Water St., Milwaukee. Free. 414-436-1111 or www.milwaukeepublicmarket.org. Bryon Cherry, 6 p.m. Tuesday; Vic and Cab, 6 p.m. July 30; Esh the Singer, 6 p.m. Aug. 6; River Water Tribe, 6 p.m. Aug. 13; Joe Wray, 6 p.m. Aug. 20; Scott Hlavenka, 6 p.m. Aug. 27, The Grove at the Marcus Center for the Performings Arts, 929 N. Water St., Milwaukee. 414-2737206 or www.marcuscenter.org. Slide Brothers, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday; The Dunwells, 7:30 p.m. July 30; Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 6; Florentine Opera Company, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 13; Spirit Family Reunion, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 20; Red Baraat, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 27, Peck Pavilion at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, 929 N. Water St., Milwaukee. 414-273-7206 or www.marcuscenter.org. Organ concert with Matthew Lawrenz, 2 p.m. Aug. 11, Christ Church UCC, 915 E. Oklahoma Ave., Milwaukee. Garden District Community Garden garden walk and seed collection, 6:30 p.m. Aug. 6, South Sixth Street and West Howard Avenue. 414-3792450 or www.milwaukeegdna.com. Moth Night, 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. today, Wehr Nature Center, 9701 W. College Ave., Hales Corners. 414-425-8550 or www.countyparks.com. Native Wellness Garden Club, meets 4 p.m. Fridays, Tippecanoe Presbyterian Church, 125 W. Saveland Ave., Milwaukee. 414-481-4680. or www.tippechurch.org. Second Hand Purrs fundraiser, 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Pizzera Piccola's, 7606 W. State St., Wauwatosa. 414-727-7787. "Wines of Southern France Tasting and Workshop," 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday, $25; "Delicous Summer No Bake Desserts Cooking Class," $16, Bay View Community Center, 1320 E. Oklahoma Ave., Milwaukee. 414-4821000 or www.bayviewcenter.org. Very Hungry Caterpillar Tea Party, 6:30 p.m. Monday, Bay View Library, 2566 Kinnickinnic Ave., Milwaukee. Registration required. 414-2863011. The Rock Sports Complex grand opening weekend, Friday through Sunday, The Rock Sports Complex, 7900 W. Cyrstal Ridge Drive, Franklin. www.rockcomplex.com/events. "Feline Groovy" cat show, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 21 and Sept. 22, Fountain Hall, 8505 Durand Ave., Sturtevant. $6 adults, $5 seniors 65 and over, $3 youths 8 and under. 414-218-8815 or www.catsrulecatclub.com.

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