Acts and Answered: Colin Roybal

Colin Roybal is the Artistic Director and a founding member of
Equinox Theatre Company; Photo by Meg Ralph

If my count is correct, I've done 29 interviews for the Acts and Answered column here on Examiner.com. I've interviewed mostly actors, but very few directors. Today, I thought I'd add to the directors list. I've been lucky enough to be directed by Colin Roybal before. He directed, music directed, and choreographed a performance of Once On This Island that I was in about a year ago, and still that show holds up as one of my favorite experiences ever on stage. His vision as a director is stronger than many directors who have been directing longer than Colin has been alive. He was recently named as Artistic Director of Equinox Theatre Company and he has worked with just about all of the big companies in town. This is an actor, director, musician, and choeographer to watch. Plus - he is also your own Denver Nightlife Examiner! So, enjoy this week's Acts and Answered with Colin Roybal.

Q. What is your favorite theatre to visit as a patron and why?
A. My favorite theater to visit as a patron would have to be the Lakewood Cultural Center. The space is large, yet intimate, the facility is amazing and comfortable, and it's really hard to get a bad seat in that house.

Q. Tell me a little about your current show.
A. The show I'm currently working on is Frozen, by Bryony Lavery. I'm the director, and it has been a really challenging show, for both me as a director, and for the actors. The show involves three characters coping with forgiveness, guilt, and the feeling of being stuck or "frozen" between two mindsets, who are all drawn together by one tragic event. This show really means a lot to me, as an artist, because the emotions of the show are heightened versions of the raw emotions that we all as human beings face every day.

Lorenzo Sarinana and Colin Roybal
Photo by Meg Ralph

Q. What makes a "good" show?, What makes a "bad" show?
A. A good show can transport you out of your own world and into another story for a short time. A good show makes you think, and makes you talk. A bad show can be anything without a heart to it. Even down to the most basic of slapstick jokes, the show has to make you feel something. A bad show does not make an audience member emote in any way.
 

Q. How long have you been in theatre and what got you started?
A. I've been involved in theatre since I was in middle school, which is long enough ago that I care not to divulge the actual years :) I got started in a school production, and then when I went to high school, did more school shows, and really found a home in the practice of theatre, and the family that came with it.

Q. How can we get more people excited about live, local theatre?
A. Go out and experience it! Sure, it's one thing to go and enjoy the huge touring shows done at the Denver Center, they are great, but sometimes the most heartfelt, meaningful, and enjoyable theatre is done by the smaller companies. When you see that there's the option to go see Annie for the umpteenth time, or a smaller production of a show you've maybe not heard of... Take a chance.

the most heartfelt, meaningful, and enjoyable theatre is done by the smaller companies."

Q. You recently started a new theatre company - tell me about the struggles of starting a new company.
A. As many of the people around town have seen, there was some debate about how the little companies in Denver that have sprung up have saturated the market for theatre in Denver. I disagree. While we are yet another smaller company trying to make our name in the business, we bring something different, and hope to fill a niche in the market that is not quite tackled yet. Being different is hard, as we have seen, sometimes people don't have the broad horizons that include anything but Wicked and Romeo and Juliet, but we will continue to do what we do at Equinox, which is to try to change the season up a bit.
 

From L to R: Colin Roybal, Brandon Metoyer, Charles
Burden, Linda Brown in Godspell

Q. What does the average theatre patron not know about live theatre?
A. I don't think people realize what an enormous amount of self goes into a show. I have seen the answers of people on Acts and Answered before, and they all agree, that a huge amount of work goes into a show, but what I'd like to add is that a huge amount of SELF goes in, meaning that along with the hard work that goes to putting up any show, comes the heart of the people who are pouring their passion at the project. Frozen is one of the shows that has brought that out in the actors, as well as the production staff. Come to see the show for the amount of SELF that has been given on the stage.

Q. What were the challenges of directing such a difficult show like Frozen?
A. The subject material and language make some people uncomfortable. I guess I'm a hardened man of language, because the words in this show don't make me feel uncomfortable, they make me feel. They are words at the core of the emotion of the show, and they bring out such feelings in anyone watching, that is impossible not to feel some kind of deep emotion for the characters, about the characters, or with the characters. This show is emotionally exhausting in an amazing way.

They are words at the core of the emotion of the show, and they bring out such feelings in anyone watching"

Q. Where can we see you next?
A. Well, as a founding member of Equinox, you can definitely see me working on all those projects, and around town you can see my work, like my set design for Dial M for Murder at Vintage. I like to wear many hats. Catch me around the theatre town wearing any number of them (with matching shoes, most likely!)

Q. What is your favorite breakfast cereal?
A. Cinnamon Toast Crunch.. Oh man.. It's the best!