"Back Home Again (Dreaming of Charleston)” is a new one-woman performance piece by actress, writer and West Virginia native Ann Magnuson. It is a loving reminiscence of growing up in West Virginia with all the hopes, dreams, good times, sad times and crazy times as well as notes from the long and winding road that took Magnuson from Charleston to New York, Los Angeles and nearly every continent in the world then back home again.
"I will always love my native state" Magnuson confides. "And I've never forgotten my roots." Magnuson officially left home in 1979 to live and work in NYC where she achieved international renown as a performance artist and writer. She began to get work as an actress in Hollywood films and television which led her to Los Angeles where she currently lives. "But I've always made a point of coming back to Charleston," Magnuson says."I return at least two or three times a year. It keeps me grounded which is something everyone who works in show business desperately needs and don't always get.”
“I consider myself supremely lucky to have been born and raised in West Virginia. Although the state often lives up to its nickname ‘Almost Heaven' it is a very real - meaning genuine- place, full of the friendliest and funniest people I've ever met. It's been 30 years since my big move to the big city and all through the decades I have literally been dreaming of Charleston!" In fact, Magnuson's new show will be composed of some of those very dreams which will take the audience on a surrealistic journey through the entire Kanawha Valley, from the South Side Bridge to Kanawha State Forest.
The show will consist of original songs, poetic reveries and comedic monologues as well as featuring video projections of images shot in Charleston by local filmmakers. Magnuson will be accompanied by live harp played by Los Angeles- based musician Alexander Rannie. "I've been working with Alex for about a year now," Magnuson says "His virtuosic playing coupled with a keen wit and encyclopedic knowledge of not only classical but pop music will provide a perfect dreamlike soundtrack to the proceedings.
All these elements will make "Back Home Again (Dreaming of Charleston) a multi-media experience whose message will ultimately be what every West Virginian already knows, 'there's no place like home.' "
Cost: $24 (festival seating)
Link: www.annmagnuson.com