The quilt is currently 792,000 square feet, weighs more than 50 tons and contains more than 44,000 panels. Since its first conception, the quilt has helped spread awareness about AIDS and has been viewed by more than 13 million people.
Quilt, which contains music written by Michael Stockler and lyrics by Jim Morgan, was first produced in 1992 and presented in the Smithsonian Institute. It tells the story from the point of view of survivors who try to turn the tragic deaths of loved ones into something positive by creating a panel in the name of their friend or relative. As they work, they tell the story of their friend's life. The making of their panel helps to bring about changes in the makers by allowing them to confront their pain and deal with their loss in a hopeful way.
The Thespians will be presenting Quilt with hopes of raising awareness among students. A portion of the proceeds will go to the AIDS Project.
"I hope that people come to see it and realize it's a topic we should be talking about," said Sarah Keegan (senior-theatre arts), director of the musical.
"We've (the cast) been talking about it for so long, so it's second nature, but in the beginning it was such a difficult topic to bring up and to break the stereotype of how people get it and are infected and to make everyone feel as though they could get it. There was a saying when it first began that said, 'Silence equals death,' and that's so true. We want people to start talking about it so that education can go further throughout the campus. There's not enough education," she said.
Keegan added that she hopes the musical also helps people face this disease without prejudice and realize there is nothing offensive about sex and AIDS education.
"We were very worried that Senator Lawless would think our show would be very offensive, but it's not offensive at all. We used the language from the original script, we didn't want to vary it."
The Thespians also sponsored MasquerAIDS, a black-tie ball, which took place Saturday and earned just over $3,500 for the AIDS Project. The Thespians hope their hard work pays off by inspiring students to recognize that this disease can strike anyone, anywhere and cannot be ignored. One way to help is for students to get interested and get involved with various AIDS causes.
The play will be performed at 8 p.m. today through Saturday in Schwab Auditorium. Tickets are $9 for adults and $5 for students and are on sale at the Eisenhower Ticket Center or the HUB-Robeson Center Box Office. For more information, call the Thespian office at 865-9461 or Eisenhower Auditorium at 863-0255.
