CRESTVIEW — Dominick "Nick" Trolian must know several things in his role as Arthur, King of the Britons, for Northwest Florida State College's summer musical, "Spamalot."
Namely:
•How to tell if a woman is a witch
•How to deal with taunting Frenchmen
•The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow
•Plus page after page of rollicking dialogue from one of the stage’s funniest musical comedies.
But, as Arthur tells Sir Bedevere, "you have to know these things when you're a king, you know."
Trolian, a Crestview resident who played Scrooge in View From the Stage's "A Christmas Carol," joins a cast of 21 regional thespians for the musical "lovingly ripped off from the motion picture 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail," as the subtitle states.
To accede the throne, Arthur explains, "the Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur."
But strange women lying in ponds distributing swords don't also distribute plum musical comedy parts. For that, Trolian had to audition.
The role he wanted
"I definitely wanted the part of King Arthur," he said. "I don't think there was any other role I was suited for. There's a lot of dancing in the show and I'm not a particularly good dancer.
"I'm probably the only role in the show that doesn't have to dance a lot."
While Trolian said he has seen the classic 1975 Monty Python film, it wasn't until he heard Northwest Florida State would produce Eric Idle’s stage adaptation that he viewed "Spamalot" performance videos on YouTube.
Having never seen Tim Curry or his replacements in the role, "I am definitely doing my own King Arthur," Trolian said. "I'm really excited because I love to do comedy and I don't get to do it very often."
The July 16-19 run of "Spamalot" marks Trolian's second appearance on the Mattie Kelly Performing Arts Center stage, following last summer's "Les Misérables."
An actor-by-night
A software engineer at Eglin Air Force Base by day, in true community theatre tradition, the accomplished actor-by-night is in rehearsals four evenings a week.
Luckily, Trolian says, his wife, Cathy, and three daughters support his love of theatre, which includes being on the View From the Stage board of directors.
Trolian's enthusiasm for "Spamalot" increases as he sees scenes being blocked for the first time. His favorite is "I'm All Alone," which Arthur sings with his servant, Patsy.
"I'm really excited to see how the scenery's going to look and how all that stagecraft takes place," Trolian said. Scenery designer "Clint Mahlie does a fantastic job."
"I really enjoy being part of the ensemble," he said. "It's a very professional operation … even though it's predominantly a college production. It's high quality all the way through."
Email News Bulletin Staff Arts and Entertainment Editor Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview actor cast as Arthur, King of the Britons, in 'Spamalot'