We have people who come in and they'll send the kids over say, "Oh go say
hi to the princess." but now the little girls say, "Oh no mommy
That's the Queen!"
I very vividly remember coming here for my eighth grade graduation.
That first visit we sat in the red and yellow section, and our knight won of course.
I had my autographed crown hanging in my bedroom for years after that.
It was a awesome experience, that first time.
Medieval Times is an experience that's modeled after the kingdoms of medieval Spain,
and what the entertainment of the time period would have been like.
As an actor you need a job that allows you a certain amount of flexibility but you
also want to make sure that it doesn't suck your soul, you know.
I started as a wench in the gift shop. Very shortly after I got transferred to
bar and I worked at the bar for several years. But during that time I became
aware of the fact that we had an opening for a princess.
I have been here at medieval times for seven years,
and I have been in the show cast for six and a
half of those seven years. As of January I got an upgrade so I am no longer a princess,
I am the queen.
We change the show every few years because even though
we entertain millions of guests all the time we want to make sure to keep
something fresh and exciting for our returning guests.
The changing of the guard as it were really came in response to a lot of
audience feedback that we had, that they wanted to see women featured more
prominently in the show.
The princess previously was much more a
supporting role and in various iterations of the show she had always
been daughter of the king, wife of the prince. Now you've got a queen who's
fully in charge and fully on her own and she's not in relationship to anyone
else she's the ruler and she's strong and she's kind and she has these really
powerful moments where she has the opportunity to assert herself.
As an actor it doesn't get any better than that
I was coming out for procession and I noticed right in the front row there was
a little girl she couldn't have been I don't even think she was a toddler she was
so tiny she was standing on her parents lap and the look of unbridled joy I saw
on her face when she saw the Queen riding out on that horse
I thought to myself in that moment.
This is what making an impact feels like.
And it was really really cool.
The amount of families and young fans that we entertain here at the castle I
think having them see from a very young age that we have a woman who's fully in
charge and not only is she strong but she's kind
I hope what we're building is a new generation of people for whom that is the norm
At a time when we're seeing these changes happen at a larger level I think
we're seeing these changes happen because we've reached a
tipping point and you don't reach a tipping point without building to it
over a long period of time
Being strong is something that I think a lot of women feel that, that's a part of
themselves that they need to hide so it's definitely helped me to lean into
my own personal strength.
What I find with this show is that there are moments where the audience is
compelled to react on their own and cheer on their own in a way that I
didn't experience in other versions of the show and that to me is really
exciting because it means that not only are they they here to have a good time
but they're invested in the story that we're telling and they're invested in
these characters
For me the the biggest takeaway from my time here is that,
you can always be surprised.
You haven't seen it all.
And thats tremendously exciting,
and very very creatively fulfilling.