ELY –The “Quiltmaker’s Gift” opens Friday, July 15, with a 7 p.m. performance at Ely’s Historic State Theater.
The show continues Saturday, July 16 at 7p.m. and closes Sunday, July 17 with a matinee performance at 1 p.m.
Tickets are available at $15 for adults, $5 for K-12 students and $25 for premium seating in the first six center rows.
Admission may be purchased online at movies.statetheater.org by credit card or inside the theater in the concession area daily from noon until the final showing of the evening by cash, check or credit card. Patrons also may call 218-235-6300 and if staff are available, they can assist you with your ticket purchase.
As with the 2019 production, several community events were planned in conjunction with the show.
An Ely Public Library event, “Get Crafty! Make a Tie Quilt” will be held for students in grades 1-6 on Friday, July 15. A display case filled with illustrator Gail de Marcken’s memorabilia from her work on the book will remain in the library thru July. Her seven-foot long wood carving of a scene from the musical, which was on display at the State Theater in 2019, now has a permanent home in the Ely library.
Three unique quilts crafted by Ely quilter Dorothy Sand were donated to be raffled off this year. Tickets are available during all three productions.
Piragis Book Store has copies of the “Quiltmaker’s Gift” in stock. They also will be available for purchase at the Theater and are available at Wintergreen.
The Front Porch Coffee and Tea Co. is featuring an exhibit by local photographer John Ratzloff from the 2019 production of “Quiltmaker.” The exhibit will run through the end of July.
Residents at the Boundary Waters Care Center and Carefree Living in Ely were invited to a “Quiltmaker’s Indoor Garden Party” this week.
The “Quiltmaker’s Gift” book that is the inspiration for the musical was to be read, and residents and volunteers tied fleece quilts for kids. They were donated to Dr. Benjamin Novak, son of Ely’s Nancy Andreae, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Gillette Children’s Hospital in St. Paul.
Residents of Ely’s BWCC and Carefree, along with residents of Carefree Living in Babbitt and Vermilion Senior Living in Tower, were special guests at a dress rehearsal on Thursday.
A highlight of the Ely Fourth of July parade was the “Quiltmaker’s” honorable mention entry, made possible by the efforts of the cast, Ely Community Resource’s Julie Hignell, Rev. Craig Haberman of Ely’s First Methodist Church, Gail de Marcken and Paul Kess.
The “Quiltmaker’s Gift” celebration in Ely is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council (ARAC), thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, and by the Donald G. Gardner Humanities Trust, the Rotary Club of Ely, Lake Country Power, the Kiwanis Club of Ely, and Ely’s Northwoods Partners.