This article has been updated since it first appeared in print.
Organizer Erin Thomas and musician Chris Fuller assisted in bringing “Coming Back Home ... Out of the Cold” to The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen on Jan. 17. Tickets are $40. (Photo courtesy Westover Hills United Methodist Church)
Local creative director Erin Thomas and her crew want to deliver magical moments onstage for the New Year. It’s all part of the multimedia production “Coming Back Home ... Out of the Cold,” with two performances on Jan. 17 at 3 and 7 p.m., at The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen.
The presentation includes a roster of musicians that could be headlining an event all on their own, with players on stools singing folksy, feel-good tunes. And there’ll be some of that, but so much more.
“This is dance, projections, puppets, songs, poetry and painting,” Thomas says, adding with a slight chuckle, “This is what happens when you open your mind to creativity, and with receptive people around you; they first look at you like you’re crazy — and then we go and make it work.”
The team includes youngsters from the Arts to All program, which provides access to the arts and enrichment opportunities for kids. Additional participants are educator and actor Brendan Kennedy, puppeteer Abernathy Bland, and lighting designer Joe Doran; former Richmonder and award-winning director Chase Kniffen provides projection and set design assistance. Also on the roster is a choir from Westover Hills United Methodist Church.
Extravaganzas of entertainment are on brand for Thomas. She established the annual Live Art program for the School of Performing Arts in the Richmond Community, aka SPARC. The yearlong educational experience has historically (2012-2019) culminated with a show that pairs the participating students with national and regional artists.
The winter-themed “Coming Back Home ... Out of the Cold” show, however, is a sequel of sorts. In 2024, the “Coming Back Home” concert event evolved from the desire of actor David Bridgewater and his musician siblings Chris Fuller and Kathy Guisewite to honor the memory of their father, Charles Franklin Fuller Jr., an arts advocate and educator. The idea ultimately took the form of a show built around the music of John Denver with theatrical flourishes.
After Thomas’ partnership with SPARC ended in 2019, she busied herself with raising two children and didn’t expect to ever delve into a creative endeavor again. But the excitement drew her back, and with the 2024 production under her belt, here’s another show — though this time it’s threaded through with music from Willie Nelson, Ingrid Michaelson, Norah Jones, The Decemberists, and originals created by the performers, including renowned singer-songwriter and Richmond native Steve Bassett.
The featured musicians are Brad Tucker, Frank Coleman, B.J. Kocen, Jackie Frost, Steve Bassett, Desirée Roots, Charles and Sara Arthur, Samantha Wilborn, Danny and Spencer Hughes, Tim Timberlake, and Chris Fuller.
The “Coming Back Home” concert is also intended to be a good time for good causes; it benefits the Cultural Arts Center program Opening Minds Through Art and music advocacy group JAMinc.
Thomas notes that the holidays can be a time of brightness within the depths of winter. The January “Coming Back Home” show seeks to be a similar source of light in that dark. “With all the holly jolly, it can be a really tough time,” Thomas says. “We move through lyrics and poems that remind us that the way you get through dark times is by putting one foot in front of the other, while looking toward hope and light.”
