CHESTER – For many people, coming back home can sometimes be difficult after venturing out and settling elsewhere.
For Michelle Joyner, a Los Angeles-based stage and screen actor who hails from Westfield, coming home has always been anything but difficult.
In fact, it’s been welcome.
“I have twin boys who just turned 15, and when they were born, I wanted to come back East so my parents could spend time with my kids,” said Joyner. “I got this little cabin in Huntington, so we’ve been coming here every summer for the past 15 years.”
A graduate of Westfield High School in 1979, Joyner’s career in the entertainment industry began shortly thereafter in New York City, where she worked as a model for eight years before moving to LA beginning her career as a thespian.
MICHELLE JOYNER
Now, after a 15-year hiatus, Joyner is preparing to return to the stage with the Chester Theatre Company, a venue she has visited many times but has never performed at.
“I’ve been there many times but, aside from a reading of ‘Jane Eyre’ there last summer, this is my first time on stage there,” she said. “It’s been great for my parents, Connie and Jerry Joyner, who live in Westfield still. It’s really exciting to be performing locally.”
Joyner will star in Sharr White’s “Annapurna”, a finalist for the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award in 2012, which will run from July 10 through the 20th with the Chester Theatre Company, which is celebrating it’s 25th anniversary this summer.
Joyner plays Emma, a woman who returns after two decades to her estranged husband Ulysses upon hearing he has fallen on hard times. She finally tracks him down to find him living alone in a trailer in rural Colorado, which sets up the play’s main event, a final encounter between two ex-lovers, both ailing and a distant in their own ways.
The play has been performed all across the country, most notably last year at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles, where it ran from April 20 to June 9 and starred a real-life husband and wife team, “Parks and Recreation” stars Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman as Emma and Ulysses.
It was in the City of Angels where Joyner caught her first glimpse of the show.
“I was very taken with the play. I thought it was terrific, and my husband (director Robert Egan) and I were looking for something to do in Chester,” she said, adding that the play’s small, two-person format would be ideal for the Chester venue. “It was a great part for me and a great part for Dan (Riordan).”
Joyner, whose acting credits included feature films such as 1993’s “Cliffhanger” which starred Sylvester Stallone, and 1995’s “Outbreak” with Dustin Hoffman, along with appearances in over 40 soap operas and TV shows, got the acting itch again when her kids reached middle school.
“It’s been a long hiatus from acting, but it’s been an even longer hiatus from theatre,” she said before describing the differences between the stage and the silver screen. “It’s very different. When you’re doing a play, you have so much more time to delve into the character and really examine the intention of the playwright. When you’re doing a movie, you barely have rehearsal.”
When asked to describe her character in the performance, Joyner explains Emma with an intense exuberance, the kind that only a seasoned actor can muster.
“She’s very strong. The play is very emotional, very touching and funny,” she explained. “But within the comedy, there is a lot of pathos and there is a tragic element between these two people, who love each other but can’t really find a way to be together.”
Joyner explains that much of the play’s drama stems from a “problem” she needs to discuss with her ex-husband, with whom she also has a child.
“It’s very real and relatable as a woman,” she added. “It’s a great part and I’m thrilled to be playing it. I really hope the audiences are going to like it. I’m confident they will, but until you get in front of an audience, you just don’t know.”
Joyner she expects her parents will be there on opening night with family in tow, including her brother, who is flying in from Colorado for the performance.
“They’re inviting their friends. They’re inviting a lot of friends of mine who I went to high school with,” she said. “And because my husband is directing and a very, very old friend of mine is playing the other part, it feels like a family affair.”
“I really love western Massachusetts,” Joyner added. “Because my life is ensconced out West, I’m really grateful that I have the opportunity to come back here in the summers. I hope that someday when my kids are grown and I can retire, I hope it’s some place in this area. It’s really great to be back.”
“Annapurna” will be running from July 10-20, with performances beginning at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and at 2p.m. on Thursday and Sunday. Post-performance “TalkBacks” will follow the Thursday 2 p.m. and Saturday 8 p.m. shows. A post-performance “Panel Forum” follows the 2 p.m. show on Sunday, July 13.
