Interview: Jen Gantwerker's Journey

Jen Gantwerker is one of the most versatile and dedicated artists in Arizona's theatre scene. With a blend of humor, talent, and passion for collaboration, she has delighted audiences across the Valley of the Sun.

Your career path is wonderfully eclectic – theatre artist, educator, yoga teacher. How do these seemingly disparate passions feed into and inform each other?

All three pieces of my career revolve around a desire to bring more beauty, love, and truth into the world. I find that the principles I weave into my yoga classes help me to be a more compassionate teacher, the kids I work with energize me creatively, and the things I discover about myself in both "day jobs" help me become a better actor and theatre artist.

It’s clear that your dedication to both your students and your craft energizes your work. You've tackled such a variety of roles, from Shakespeare to sketch comedy—what draws you to these different styles of theatre?

I love learning new things, and collaborating with other artists, and finding the threads that connect things that seem to be different. But most of all, I just love making art! If someone approaches me about a project and it sounds interesting (and I can find enough hours in the day to make it happen), I am IN.

As the Education Program Manager at Childsplay Theatre, you're shaping young minds. What's the most rewarding aspect of bringing theatre to children? 

Theatre unlocks something really magical in kids. Watching it teaches them that they live in a world where anything is possible, and making it helps them find their place in that world. I could also stand on a rooftop and shout for days about the impact arts-based learning within the classroom has on kids - on their confidence, their enthusiasm for learning, and their ability to succeed in school. Like I said, it's magic!

In Kindertransport, you embodied such emotional depth, and in A Christmas Carol, you channeled joy and light. How do you navigate such emotional contrasts on stage? 

Sometimes I'm drawn to a role or a story because I already feel a connection to it - while my character in Kindertransport went through something I can only imagine experiencing, her heart was very familiar to me. But it's also very satisfying to "try on" a character who is a little further away - like the embodiment of the Christmas spirit - find the connection, and tell their story. It's also really good for my mental well-being to balance more serious, emotionally challenging work with stories that are purely joyful - going from Kindertransport rehearsal straight to a performance of A Christmas Carol was a very useful bit of emotional whiplash.

The Grand Adventures of the Tortellini Brothers won Best Ensemble at the Tucson Fringe Festival. What was the collaborative process like in creating this show? 

It was so much fun! The show is based on these ridiculous characters my friend Layla and I improvised around during another project we did together. We felt like they deserved their own story, so we started getting together and brain dumping story ideas, jokes we wanted to include, and so many bad puns about pasta. If something made us laugh, it got written down. We brought in our friend Carey because we needed a third character and also needed her brain to help us tie everything together into something coherent. As the show took shape, we figured we should perform it and see if anyone else thought it was as funny as we did. Turns out people did! Not all people, because that's how comedy goes, but enough people to win an award, which is pretty awesome.

You have degrees in both Theatre and International Relations from USC. How does that unique academic background influence your work in the arts and education?

USC actually encourages people to pursue dual degrees in disparate fields, which dovetailed nicely with my plan to double major. And my IR classes were so fun! They lit up a different part of my brain than my theatre classes, and being challenged in that way is something I find really satisfying. I'd like to think my academic background provides me with some additional insight into how humans relate to each other on both an interpersonal and a global level, which is an asset in my artistic life, as well as a deeper understanding of our responsibilities as citizens of the world, which is a huge influence on my work as an arts educator.

You're based in Arizona, not exactly a traditional theatre hub. What are the challenges and opportunities of creating theatre in this region? 

I think one of the challenges is also an opportunity: while it is, I think, inarguably more difficult to make your living as an actor here, there are lots of tiny companies making really interesting theatre, and because the community is relatively small, it's easier to connect with the people who are doing things you want to be a part of. So while I think we'd all like it if there were more rehearsal spaces, more performance venues, more highly paid opportunities, etc., the opportunities that DO exist are exciting to me.

Between your theatre work, teaching, and writing songs about your Very Good Dog, how do you manage to balance it all? What keeps you motivated and inspired? 

Sometimes I don't balance it well! I am doing my best, all the time, to only drop the rubber balls. But when I am balancing things I love, and all of the things you mentioned are things I love, the motivation to keep juggling is pretty easy to find. As far as inspiration, every morning when I walk Winkle (the aforementioned Very Good Dog), I am reminded of how beautiful this world is, and how lucky I am to get to be here, doing things I love, every single day. And if that inspiration isn't enough to get me through the day, there's always coffee.

What's next for Jen Gantwerker? Any dream projects or roles you're hoping to tackle in the future? 

Some of my favorite roles have been in shows I wasn't familiar with before I auditioned for them, so I'm pretty sure my next dream role is in something I haven't even heard of yet. That said, if someone wants to produce Mauritius by Theresa Rebeck, I am here for it.

And finally: if you could invite any three theatre legends, living or dead, to a burrito-filled dinner party, who would you choose and why? 

I would invite Carol Burnett, Dick Van Dyke, and Samuel Beckett, in the hope that Beckett would be late and the other two would make some really good jokes about whether he was coming.

Oops - I lied. One more thing - what's coming up for you? 

My sketch comedy troupe, Patent Pending, is performing in November at Desert Stages (p3comedy.com), I am doing A Christmas Carol again (for the third time!) at Theater Works in December, and I'm filming a (SAG-AFTRA-contracted) fantasy web series with Brelby Productions that will be released in early 2025!

For more about Jen, see my video interview with her from 2017. Catch her on stage and screen soon—whether she's bringing the magic of A Christmas Carol To life again, or joining the fantasy world of a new web series, there’s no doubt her next project will be captivating.

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