Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
At Medieval Times, the queen takes charge
Dinner theater attraction adds a modern twist to history
KISSIMMEE — She is a feminist at heart, but for 15 years the actress faithfully played the role of a princess at Medieval Times. Eveleena Fults wasn’t allowed to ride a horse and stood on the stage beside the king, looking dainty. But a revolution is under way at the castle. “The king is dead,” joked Leigh Cordner, the show’s director.
For the first time in its 34-year history, the queen rules the land as Medieval Times has launched a new show at its soon-to-be 10 locations across the country. The Kissimmee attraction known for jousting and thick, roasted chicken legs debuted its king-free show Thursday evening.
“I had blinders on,” said Cordner, who has spent 30 years at the company. “I don’t know that a queen ever occurred to me. No, no, a king is in charge of the tournament.”
But it was time to change the show again, like the company does every few years.
“Once you say ‘Queen,’ you go, ‘Why not?’ ” Cordner said. “She can just as easily be the center of the evening.”
And so, he began writing the part of Queen Donna Maria Isabella, who loves her people but also wants to command respect.
The #MeToo movement has overruled the historic authenticity at some shows and attractions, said Lori Pennington-Gray, a tourism professor at the University of Florida.
“The #MeToo movement has changed the conversation,” she said. “Even though it might have been that way, it’s causing people to sit back and say, ‘No, that’s not OK.’ ”
For instance, at Pirates of the Caribbean in Disney’s Magic Kingdom, the women — wenches — who were auctioned off as brides while men chanted, “We wants the redhead!” disappeared. Last month, the ride reopened with the redhead, now a pirate, toting a rifle while chickens are auctioned off instead.
Some families might take into account the changes when they choose where to visit, said Pennington-Gray, adding that women are typically the decision-makers in their families when it comes to making vacation plans.
Cordner points out the queen-led show took about two years to write and develop — well before the Women’s March and the #MeToo movement gained national attention — but he welcomes the relevance of the show right now amid a national conversation about empowering women in the workforce. “We’re a 3-D example of it,” he said. He wrote a plot where the conflict isn’t “coming at her” but more “swirling around her.”
“Her authority and presence,” Cordner said, is what settles the drama when she takes over after her father’s death. Knights will duel, an inevitable at Medieval Times.
Best of all, the plot lacks a love interest for the queen or anyone fighting for her hand in marriage, the actresses and director said.
“That’s one of the great things,” said Fults, eager to play a strong woman in a more indepth role. “In 15 years, a lot has changed outside of the castle. It’s nice to see the changes happening within the castle.”
The crowd in Dallas — where the first castle became female-led in October — was overwhelmingly positive, said Kaitlyn Cahalen, who starred as the queen there before transferring to Kissimmee.
“The way the audience cheers for you and supports you. I feel like I almost cried during my first shows,” Cahalen said.
On a rehearsal break this week, in between the sword fights and the horses trotting, five of the ex-princesses rotating the role of queen talked about the show’s evolution and the gender dynamics.
Little girls often asked them: Where are the lady knights?
“We never really know what to say,” said Ada Bobola of Davenport.
And male audience members sometimes seemed disappointed to take photographs with a princess.
“What’s your royal status?” Bobola would ask defiantly, although politely, to prove a point.
Now, the former king is demoted to an adviser of the queen. The queens wear boots — instead of prim flats — to trod on the sandy arena and know how to ride horses.
At the castle, there were signs of the queen in power before the new show officially opened to the public. The queen’s portrait hung in the hall and “It’s Good to be Queen” T-shirts were for sale in the gift shop.
Fults’ mother texted her a message of support as rehearsals wound down.
“What’s a queen without her king?” the message said. “Historically more powerful.”