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DEATH BECOMES HIM

Julian Ovenden doesn't go overboard with pre-show prep for his title role in Roundabout Theatre Company's new musical Death Takes a Holiday, the show where Death takes a few days off to learn what it is like to live as a regular Joe. "I'd love to tell you [my preparation] is an hour of watching very long Ingmar Bergman films," he says, "but I generally have a cup of coffee, eat a sandwich, sing a little bit and then I'm ready."

How much fun is it to play the guy we fear the most?
I'm having a lot of fun. I find it a big challenge. When I first received the script, a little over a year ago now, I thought the most difficult thing about it was to try and let the audience into a character that doesn't really exist and is a dramatic device. Whether it's possible to gain any kind of sympathy for someone, something, that generally creates so much fear and grief in people's lives. So it's been a very interesting journey, but I have to say, it's been a really fun one.

He really runs the gamut of emotions: first self-pity, and then joy as he experiences life. Then, love of course.
That's one of the great things about it. It's a hybrid of a piece, really. It's neither fish nor fowl. In one sense, it's quite an old-fashioned musical comedy, but in another, it has an underlying spiritual dimension to it and it's very romantic as well. It's very interesting how different audiences relate to it and respond. Some, I think, don't quite know where to place it, and some get quite excited by the adjacency of comedy and tragedy in close proximity. I'd like to see it, actually, as an audience member. That's one of the most frustrating things about being a stage actor. You really want to know exactly what's going on onstage. I'd love to see it and whether it successfully creates what we're trying to do.

	Ovenden in Death Takes a Holiday.
	photo by Joan Marcus

It was a film in the '30s with Frederic March, and later adapted as "Meet Joe Black" with Brad Pitt. I was interested to see how the surreal and allegorical elements would work in a musical. There were strong anti-war elements in the original piece, for instance.
Yeah, what I think [director] Doug Hughes has done very well is not trying to hammer home some kind of big metaphysical or philosophical message. The big themes in the play are treated with a light touch, because, let's face it, the story is a fairly simple one. I think the humor in the piece is needed to put the larger themes into relief. …It's a musical and I think it would over-egg the pudding, as it were. It's quite a delicate piece, in a way, quite fragile.

Which is more interesting from an actor's point of view? The darkness of the character or the moments when he's taking joy in human experiences?
What I find more fun is the joy, the newness and novelty of life, the discovery. That's great fun to play. I've got a 21-month-old son, and I have used him as inspiration for a lot of the early parts of the play. I see his joy of discovery every day — language, being in New York, for example. Pushing him through Times Square is an amazing experience. The colors and sounds and tastes and new people. It's a tall order to try and pull off. You're given great dramatic license to behave in any way you want to, which is really fun. But also I enjoy playing it without trying to be too arch, too Batman-villainy. It balances out quite nicely, I think.

Can you talk a little about the amazing cast you're working with?
It's a superb cast. Highly proficient. Very experienced. People who have been on Broadway for many years in leading roles. We have a wealth of great people in the cast — Rebecca Luker, Jill Paice, Matt Cavenaugh, Mara Davi. You know it's a very, very strong acting musical ensemble of people. If we were doing this show in the West End, I don't think we'd have such a strong cast. New York seems to be absolutely filled with brilliant people. What I enjoy is a collaboration. Working with other like-minded people. People who have brilliant minds and big hearts.

	Ovenden and Jill Paice in Death Takes a Holiday.
	photo by Joan Marcus

You mentioned your son being in New York. You've been here for Butley, and "Cashmere Mafia" was filmed here. Do you have regular hangouts in the city?
I like downtown. Unfortunately I'm at the Roundabout [in midtown], so I can only stretch so many trips to the emporiums of SoHo and TriBeCa, but I really enjoy the vibe downtown. I just love New York, I love the people. The energy of the place. I really feel energized working here. I've always been made to feel very welcome, and it's a tremendous city.

You had a musical upbringing. Was that by your choice, your natural inclination?
I guess right in the beginning my parents enrolled me in a school. I was a chorister at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. That was when I was seven. I guess I showed some kind of musical proclivity. I don't really know how much. We didn't have a huge amount of money so it was a great way of getting a fantastic music education. All the kids at that particular school were on scholarship. From then, that gave me a great grounding to get further scholarships to secondary school and then university. I've had a very privileged musical education.

Your wife is opera singer Kate Royal, a lyric soprano. When you're at home, is there always singing or do you vow never to sing?
Oh, God, we never sing… [laughs] no, no, no, no. To be honest with you, when we're rehearsing, we take turns and have a music studio at home. We don't spend a lot of time singing when we don't have to. It's great to be with someone who doesn't do exactly the same thing but has a great understanding of what you do.

I also read that your father is personal chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II. What does that entail?
He lives in Windsor. He is in charge of conducting all the services that she attends when she's in residence in Windsor. He's had that post for 13-14 years now.

Can you show up at Windsor, and knock on the door and say I'm here to see my dad?
Oh, yeah. We got married, for example, at the Queen's private chapel last year. We've spent a lot of time in Windsor, yeah.

That's a nice perk.
Yeah, it was lovely.

Finally, did this show get you thinking heavier thoughts about death itself?
Yeah, in Dylan Thomas' words, you rage against the dying of the light. Absolutely. If I've taken anything from it, you seize the day. You live each day as if it were your last. That's probably what I'll take from it — the zest and the discovery of life that my character has at the beginning of the show. That's something I see in my son and that I would love to keep until I die.