Hear ye, hear ye: It took 34 years, but the world’s favorite Middle Ages-themed dinner-theater chain finally exited the king-fronted dark ages and, as of this year, is entering an age of enlightenment that puts women to the front. For the first time in Medieval Times’ history, the king is dead. Long live Queen Doña Maria Isabella.
The new show, which rolled out to California’s only Medieval Times castle this spring, contains all the trappings that’ve become nothing short of iconic over the last three decades: two hours of spectacle that include jousting, falconry, paper crowns, live horses, real weapons, rose tosses to the crowd and, of course, a meaty feast to be ravaged with your hands, all strung together by a vague plot that enables six knights to duel for your enjoyment.
Photograph: Michael Juliano
Photograph: Michael Juliano
But with the chain’s first-ever female-fronted cast, themes of feminism and empowerment get peppered throughout, the long-overdue byproduct of decades spent in supporting roles as princesses or queens still married to the king. In this brave new world, the king is dead and it is his daughter who inherited the throne—and she’s in no need for a suitor, delivering lines such as “There’ll be no matchmaking tonight” and “Serve me as you served my father, and forget not that inside I have the blood of kings.”
“I see little girls that are very excited, and when their mom says, ‘There’s the princess,’ they’ll say, ‘No, mom, that’s the queen,’” says Alexa Moffo, one of six rotating actors playing the queen at the Buena Park location. “And then from 15-year-old girls, I had a group of high schoolers that were just so happy to see a female lead and that empowerment, and they said they were just living for it during the show. Then I have adult women, little boys and even men who are fascinated with the queen—so it’s been all-around very positive feedback.”
Photograph: Michael Juliano
As though it were a Medieval-themed corner of Westworld, one person writes the storylines and dialogues for every park, or in this case, 11th-century–inspired castle. Leigh Cordner, the man behind Medieval Times’ shows for more than 30 years, is the architect of the new queen-led plot and its multidimensional monarch—and while he’s said the timing of the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements are fortuitous, they weren’t the inspiration. The inspiration began years prior, through years of fan-submitted requests.
“Yelp reviews, Facebook, Instagram and a lot of people also sent us private messages,” says marketing associate Alesha Gilliam. “We got it from everywhere.”
Of course, a new show doesn’t just mean changing the plot; each new storyline requires costume redesign—which for this show entailed 700 new custom costumes for all nine castles’ performers, including the horses—as well as 200 new suits of armor, an entirely new musical score, 300 new music cues, 500 new lighting cues, dozens of hours of training and months of rehearsals.
Photograph: Michael Juliano
Photograph: Michael Juliano
Cordner unveiled the script last year, followed by a Dallas rollout in the fall. Chicago and Lyndhurst, New Jersey, followed and in March 2018, Buena Park revealed its production. The following month, so did Orlando. By the end of the year, all nine Medieval Times castles are on track to begin the new storyline, which should run for the next five to six years—the average shelf life of one of their productions.
“I expect the queen is here to stay for awhile,” Moffo says.
Long may she reign.
Photograph: Michael Juliano
Buena Park’s Medieval Times castle is located at 7662 Beach Blvd, performing one to three shows daily, date depending. Find the full schedule online.