Quincy Community Theatre Holds QUILTAS Celebrating its 2023 Season

Quincy Community Theatre celebrated its 2023 season Friday evening at the Atrium on Third. The evening began with a formal dinner, followed by the awards and recognition ceremony. Twenty volunteers were recognized for their contributions to the theatre.

​The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the QCT’s highest honor, the Enid Ireland Award. Enid Ireland was active in the relaunch of Quincy Community Theatre after World War II, and she was the first recipient of this award, in her name, in 1974. The Enid Ireland Award is presented by the theatre to an individual who has shown outstanding dedication and service to the creation, organization or continuation of Quincy Community Theatre. This award was presented to Jay Trimble, who has served as the sound designer and sound board operator for 1-3 productions each year since he began his involvement at QCT in 1995. If Jay wasn’t behind the board himself for a production, he served as a consultant for other sound designers, and he has been instrumental in the upkeep of sound equipment and sound upgrades. 
 
“The Rosie” is QCT’s highest honor in the student theatre program, named for long-time QCT volunteer Rose Lacquement. Lily Twaddle was awarded “The Rosie” for her dedication to QCT and its education program. Lily made her first onstage appearance in “Tarzan” in 2017 and was most recently seen in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in 2023. She has been a student in numerous theatre classes and is a past recipient of the Burning Flame Award for her positive attitude and outstanding effort. 
 
The Ghost Light Award was presented to 5 individuals. All recipients were nominated by cast and crew members for the show in which they were involved, and a committee selected the winners from the nominations. The Ghost Light Award is given to a person who demonstrates effort that goes above and beyond cast or crew expectations, willingness to help others for the success of the entire show, and ingenuity in problem solving. The recipients were:
 
Maurice Silas for Rent
Ava Jacobsen for The Music Man
Kristie Bradshaw for Clue
Jason Keller for Peter Pan
Evan Conover for Peter Pan
The Burning Flame Award was presented to four students for outstanding effort in a student production. This year’s recipients were: 
 
Keyarri Holder for Disney's Moana Jr.
Helen Smith for A Midsummer Night's Dream
Briana Zanger for Lions in Illyria
Ava Kaelke for The Hobbit
 
The Executive Director’s Award was given to Gretchen Wolfmeyer for her many years of volunteerism on stage and backstage at QCT and for her contributions to the QCT community in 2023. The Artistic Director’s Award was given to Steve Looten, Jr., who, since 2010, has choreographed many of the battles and fight sequences seen on the QCT stage. In the 2023 season, Looten served as the fight director for The Hobbit and Peter Pan. 
 
The Paul Denckla Technical Director’s award to Dan Stephens for his outstanding contribution to backstage work throughout 2023, including as the weapons artisan for The Hobbit and Peter Pan. The Front of House award was presented to Michele Clarke. Clarke has volunteered in the box office for 29 of the 46 performances in 2023 and assisted with countless other opportunities. 
 
Julie Schuetz, Quinton Metcalf, Ruth Kummerow, David Samuels, and Marissa Rabe were also recognized for contributing over 200 volunteer hours to the organization in 2023.
 
The evening also featured several musical numbers, including a rendition of “Seasons of Love” from the cast of Rent, “Home” performed by Jordan Archibald (originally performed at QCT’s 100th Anniversary Gala), and “The Smell of Rebellion” performed by Kristen Houston from the upcoming Matilda the Musical. The evening concluded with dessert and dancing. 
 
About Quincy Community Theatre 
Quincy Community Theatre’s mission is to offer and perpetuate quality theatre entertainment and education in the performing arts through community participation. The 2024 Season is sponsored by Gardner Denver. QCT’s 2024 Media Sponsors are STARadio, Spectrum Reach, WGEM, Herald-Whig, Townsquare Media, and KHQA. For information about upcoming shows and classes or to purchase tickets, please visit www.1qct.org or call the Box Office at 217.222.3209.
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