Mare Trevathan gets around. The theatrical jill-of-all-trades works her chosen field from every angle: as an actor, director, teacher, talking-book reader, collaborator and public-relations expert, going from one spotlight to another as the muse moves her. Trevathan is not only a familiar face on some of the city's best stages, from Curious Theatre and the LIDA Project to the Denver Center Theatre Company, but she also finds space on some of its smaller ones, from Off-Center@The Jones to the Denver Children's Theatre at the Mizel Arts and Culture Center.
See also: - 100 Colorado Creatives: Tony Garcia, Su Teatro - 100 Colorado Creatives: Garrett Ammon, Wonderbound - 100 Colorado Creatives: Patrick Mueller, Control Group Productions
Every December, Trevathan joins GerRee Hinshaw, Melanie Owen Padilla and Jim Ruberto to put on the comic variety show Balls! A Holiday Spectacular, a holiday-season fundraiser full of good cheer and -- sometimes -- sock puppets. She works with schoolkids through Think 360 Arts and, more recently, joined Boulder's women-run LOCAL Theater Company.This week, Trevathan puts on her director's hat for Off-Center@The Jones's season closer, SWEAT: Improv on Bikes, which is more or less exactly what it sounds like: a long-form, musical improv performed by actors who are actively pedaling. That's right. See SWEAT at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 17 and 18, in the Jones Theatre; get tickets, $12 in advance (or $14 at the door), at Off-Center online.
While wrapping our heads around how someone directs such a show, we asked Trevathan to wrap her head around our 100CC questionnaire. Her answers follow.
Westword: If you could collaborate with anyone in history, who would it be, and why?Mare Trevathan: I'd love to go back in time and watch choreographer Pina Bausch work, because the innovation and sense of humor in her dances really resonate with me.
But there are lots of contemporary folks I'd love to work with. Toronto musician/composer Charles Spearin's The Happiness Project makes me think he'd be a wonderful collaborator for a show.
Who in the world is interesting to you right now, and why? Today I'm home sick reading up on novelist Zadie Smith (NW), because I think she's got a clear and distinct voice, and her vantage point on race/ culture/economics is unique.
In theater, I'd love to see what Punchdrunk is up to now. They're the ones who did Sleep No More in New York. They make really popular "theatrical adventures." What's one art trend you want to see die this year?
The jukebox musical. Continue reading for more on Mare Trevathan. What's your day job? Narrating audio books is the part-time constant. Then a patchwork of directing, acting and teaching gigs changes every week.A mystery patron offers you unlimited funds for life. What will you do with it? I'd build and tour a show for families with puppets, live music, lots of opportunities for kids to participate. Develop shows of and with communities across the globe.
And I'd make a show on boats on Smith Lake at Washington Park. With a string quartet and a pyro spectacle.
What's the one thing Denver (or Colorado) could do to help the arts? Reinstate funding for individual artists.
Who is your favorite Colorado Creative? John Common. He's always taking leaps of faith. Plus he founded the People's Kazoo Orchestra. Garrett Ammon and Dawn Fay also take big, fun risks. Love the collaborations they and the rest of Wonderbound have been creating with local musicians and videographers.
What's on your agenda for the rest of 2013 and beyond? After SWEAT (musical improv on bikes) at Off-Center; I'll be directing the Kaiser Permanente anti-bullying elementary-school show. In August, my husband Eryc and I head to rural Albania to create theater with six- to fourteen-year-olds. Throughout the fall, I'll be working with LOCAL Theater Company to workshop a new play. And in December, my buddies and I perform BALLS: A Holiday Spectacular! -- a fundraiser with sock-puppet sing-alongs at Lannie's Cabaret (benefiting Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault).
Also, I just discovered what wombats are, and now feel the need to see one in real life. So that's probably going to have an influence on the year.
Who do you think will get noticed this year in the local theater scene? This may be the Catamounts' year to bust a move. Their upcoming FEED sold out in two hours. Who does that?
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