Dane Terry will perform at Wexner Center for the Arts for a night of music and storytelling Nov. 22. Credit: Courtesy of Kate Sweeney
Columbus, Ohio, native Dane Terry is coming home to play the Wexner Center for the Arts Friday in a show filled with music and storytelling.
Terry, now a New York City-based composer and anecdotalist, will perform for the second time at the Wexner Center Friday evening, combining his love for music with his knack for narration. After discovering his passion for gab, Terry said that what started as writing and performing a few separate songs has now transitioned into a larger narrative, filled with theatrical elements and commentary.
“The music runs through the whole thing. My hands are always on the keyboard,” Terry said. “It really seems like it’s one fabric. It’s going to feel a little bit more like a fabric of sound and story in front of them, that’s like more one piece than a typical music show.”
Although uprooting his life in Columbus was one of the most difficult things he has ever done, Terry said he knew moving to New York was the best career path for him to continue his journey into theater.
Years have passed since Terry called Columbus home, yet he said he was still humbled to return to the city to perform at the Wexner Center.
“It’s surreal to come back and see my face on the Wexner Center bulletin board,” Terry said. “That’s surreal because it was such a big venue when I was here, and then all of a sudden, I’m playing that venue.”
Lane Czaplinski, director for performing arts at the Wexner Center, said there was no question about offering Terry an invite to come back and perform at the Wexner Center after the success of his previous show in 2016.
“It’s a no-brainer. Dane is from Ohio. He lived in Columbus, and when people talk about young storytellers who create and sing music, he’s really somebody that they talk about in performance context,” Czaplinski said.
Czaplinski said Terry has a distinct ability to combine his original narratives with music, touching on subjects and material that relate to his personal life.
“It’s that ability in a theatrical context to marry a narrative, stories, and then be able to shift simultaneously into music that supports that storytelling,” Czaplinski said. “Being able to go back and forth between a theater practice and a music practice in a nontraditional way makes it pretty unique.”
Czaplinski said this performance will provide students an opportunity to witness the success story of someone who grew up in Columbus and managed to have a blooming career in the music and theater industry.
While many artists feel a special connection to their music, Terry said one of his favorite aspects of performing is the relationship and feedback he feels from the audience.
“I like performing a lot because you get the sense when things go right,” Terry said. “I am open as a performer, and I have somehow earned the trust of the audience, and the space that we are in supports that relationship. Like, it’s an ecosystem that can flourish. It’s a space that is intentionally quiet and focused, and when everything is right it’s sort of like we are in something bigger than us together.”
Dane Terry’s performance takes place at 10 p.m. Friday at the Wexner Center for the Arts. Tickets are $10 and available for purchase the Wexner Center’s website.
