BWW Interviews: King Arthur, Arthur Rowan from SPAMALOT

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got involved in this business.

Well, I first started getting heavily involved in theatre in high school. We had a very active drama program. And that was in Vienna, VA. From there, I went down to the college of William Mary, Williamsburg. I started off as an English major, but by the end of my time there I was graduating as a theatre major. From there I spent about 5 or six years doing theatre in the DCC. After that, I was fortunate enough to get a full time job at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire as an actor, writer and director. I did that until about 2011 when I moved to New York City both to give the big city a try and also to be with my... well she was then my girlfriend... now she is my fiancée. So it was in 2011 that I looked into the open auditions for SPAMALOT and got his opportunity.

So what was your first big break then? Would you consider that your big break or some of the other stuff?

Big break is, I suppose by traditional standards this would be my first big break. Getting the job at the renaissance faire was a huge opportunity for me and was a chance for me to discover something I really loved doing. Although, I suppose in standard theatrical parlance, most people do not really think a renaissance faire is very high on the totem pole. But I guess by traditional standards this would definitely be the biggest break I have had.

And how long have you been on tour with SPAM A LOT?

On and off since about September of 2011.

What do you like most about being on the road?

So far I have had the opportunity to see 47 of the lower 48 states, a chance to sample all the different parts of the country. I mean there are some days where I go to sleep on the bus in the morning and we will be able to see the ocean then I will wake up and we will be in the middle of the Mohave Desert, certainly a chance to see a lot of different terrains and such.

Is your fiancé touring with you?

She is not she is back in New York City. Although, she comes out to meet me whenever we are able to sit down for more than a couple days at a time. I bring her out to me. It helps to tide things over.

So tell us more about your role in SPAMALOT.

Well I play King Arthur. SPAMALOT, just as a heads up for anyone, SPAMALOT is not what anyone would consider a serious show. It is based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which is a very, very zany comedy. King Arthur is given the quest of finding the Holy Grail, which he pursues with a great deal of gravitas and seriousness. I guess he is sort of the straight man of the show. A lot of the comedy comes between him expecting things to go a very traditional way and when things go completely off the rails how he reacts to that produces a great deal of comedy.

Do you think that you have anything in common with King Arthur?

It's funny, I always like to say, whenever I was growing up, whenever I would tell people my name, they would be like "Arthur, King of the Britons," referencing the holy grail. I remember at the time it got to be pretty annoying because it happened so often. Although now I really guess I can't complain about it, since I got the role. I've always been pretty drawn to the King Arthur Story, the story of Camelot, the chivalry. Although, again, the SPAMALOT retelling of it differs very, very widely from the traditional.

When you have free time on the road, what do you like to do?

It really depends on where we are. Sometimes we are lucky enough to be in major cities. We had a lovely time in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. While the rest of the country was covered in snow, we went snorkeling one day, which was a lot of fun. Certainly if we've got a few days we try to take in the sights of whatever city we are in. Frequently we will end up doing one nighters in towns that are kind of in the middle of nowhere. For those nights we do what we can. Some people do a lot of working out and yoga. There are a lot of those one o'clock in the morning yoga sessions. I brought my computer so I am on the internet a lot, browsing. For the most part we just kind of catch-as-catch-can.

Do you get time off where you actually leave the tour for a while on occasion?

The tour last year ran from September to May with a one month layoff in December. Layoff is a theatrical parlance for a break. We had a good long break for Christmas last year. And then we were off from pretty much May to December of 2012, so we had a good long break then. Then the tour started up again, and this stretch is going from December to about the middle of April, and then it is finished at that point. From that four month stretch there is not so much of a break.

So are you going to continue it in April or is it not going to tour anymore? What are the plans for the show?

Phoenix Entertainment, the company that has the rights to it right now, is going to put the tour to rest for while. The tour has been going since it premiered on Broadway in 2005. I think the first national tour started in 2008 or 2007 and it has been going very strong for about 5 or 6 years. So they are going to put it to rest for a little while. The rights are being released to regional theatres and colleges and high schools. So probably the last iteration of the Broadway show that will be happening, but after that you will start seeing SPAMALOT popping up a lot in the regional theatres all around the country, although, it won't be quite the same show.

So what are your plans after the show finishes? Do you have any yet?

Getting married is the big one on the horizon right now. We've got our wedding set for September so, I guess to answer a previous question; that is also taking up a lot of our spare time. Then my fiancée and I have a musical duo that we take to renaissance fairs as well as comic conventions. Our long term goals are, we are thinking about moving down to Florida and trying the Orlando scene for a while.

If you had not gone into this business, what do you think you would have done?

There have certainly been a number of industries that have interested me. I think the through line through any of them would have anything to do with storytelling, whether that's theatre or writing, or teaching, social work. Those would be the big ones, I'd say. I have dabbled in other things over the years to sort of make ends meet. I held an IT job for a couple years so I guess I could have wound up doing that. But in the end I am just very, very grateful to have gotten the opportunity to do what I love.

What advice do you have for people who are interested in getting into show business?

The first thing I would say is that the beauty of theatre is that it can be done at any level of professionalism. What I mean by that is there are really, really good Broadway theatres out there and there are really, really good community theatres out there and everything in between. You do not have to give up everything to do really, really good quality shows. That was one of the really great things about living in DC. There were a number of very, very good theatres where a majority of the actors all had day jobs, some of them worked for the government, some of them taught. So really, anybody looking to just do theatre it's absolutely accessible. For anybody looking to do it full time as a business, the two biggest things I say are develop a secondary skill; you are going to need that to make ends meet. For me, being able to fix computers was a big help. The other thing I'd say is far more than talent, attitude and work ethic goes a long way. For instance, for this tour, they're looking for people not just to do the roles but who you would want to spend 10 hours a day on a bus with. Jerks do not last long in this business.

SPAMALOT plays at the Majestic Theatre on Sunday, March 24th for two shows only. Go The Majestic's website for more details.

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