6 minute read
BUSINESS
Scottsdale.org
l @ScottsdaleProgress /ScottsdaleProgress
Medieval Times lowers the drawbridge for patrons
BY KRISTINE CANNON
Progress Staff Writer
Huzzah! Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament will reopen its castle doors Aug. 6 with new health and safety modi�ications throughout.
“We consulted with health experts and government of�icials in order to create our substantial reopening plan,” said Perico Montaner, Medieval Times president and CEO.
The 80,000 square-foot climate-controlled castle – located in the Talking Stick Entertainment District – will cut its usual occupancy of about 1,000 seated guests in half.
Guests will be seated only with people booked under the same reservation and each party will sit a minimum of six feet apart in the Grand Ceremonial Arena.
Leading up to each two-hour live show, guests will be required to not only wear masks but also have their temperatures checked before entering the castle.
If any guest’s temperature is over 100.4 degrees F., the entire group will be asked to reschedule.
As guests enter the castle, they will walk over “sanitation �loor mats” to clean their shoes.
Guests are also required to wear masks while roaming the grand hall but are permitted to remove them once seated inside the arena.
Welcoming back 150 employees, Medieval Times’ team members will be screened prior to the start of each shift and are required to wear a mask at all times. Those handling food or drinks will be wearing gloves, too.
Guests will also notice changes to the dining portion of the show, which consists of a four-course meal.
In addition to disposable table cards, digital menus will be accessible through smartphones.
Queen Isabella shows off one of many hand sanitizer pumps found throughout Medieval Times.
(Pablo Robles/Prog
ress Staff Photographer) Queen Isabella and the Red and Green Knight mask-up inside the Grand Ceremonial Arena. All team members will wear a mask at all times.
(Pablo Robles/Progress Staff Photographer)
Guests who choose to opt out of the hands-on, utensil-less eating experience can request disposable silverware.
And, yes, masks can come off while eating and drinking.
“No need to have a mask while enjoying your feast or a refreshing beverage,” Medieval Times said on Facebook.
To encourage social distancing, Medieval Times placed markers throughout Her Majesty’s halls.
Tickets must be purchased in advance, as well, to help facilitate social distancing at the castle, the website states.
As far as cleaning is concerned, Medieval Times states on their website that the Castle will be cleaned “thoroughly through the day and night,” with all high-touch areas disinfected multiple times per show.
Hand sanitizer will be located throughout the castle, too.
Off-limits to guests, however, is the Museum of Torture, which will remain closed, and pre-show meet-and-greets and postshow autographs.
“What we’ve managed is a plan that will ensure our guests and staff remain safe while maintaining the same majesty and grandeur that is expected of our tournaments,” Montaner said.
Medieval Times raised its drawbridge on March 16 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Since, they’ve kept busy not only creating an extensive reopening plan, but also making masks.
The Medieval Times costume shop, based in Dallas, made 10,000 masks using show costume material and donated them to frontline and essential workers.
“As soon as things started changing in our world, one of our �irst priorities was, ‘What can we do? And how can we help?’” said Vive President Kristen Schascheck in a promotional video posted to Medieval Times’ YouTube. “Because we have the luxury of having all of these beautiful, durable fabrics here at our disposal, we thought masks would be a good way to give back.”
They are currently looking for volunteers to sew up to 2,500 masks they plan to donate locally.
Those interested in volunteering can sign up on Medieval Times’ website.
They’ll then receive everything they’ll need to make the masks: 50 pre-cut fabric pieces for the front of the mask, 50 pre-cut fabric pieces for back of the mask, 100 elastic pieces, one complete mask for reference, and one half-complete mask for reference.
Leading up to reopening, Medieval Times also celebrated baby season at their ranch in Sanger, Texas, where 25 to 30 foals are born each year.
Medieval Times in Orlando, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia reopened July 5.
Castles in Dallas, Texas and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina will follow at an unspeci�ied date; and the rest of the castles have yet to make a reopening announcement.
Information: medievaltimes.com
Arts & Entertainment
Scottsdale.org
l @ScottsdaleProgress /ScottsdaleProgress
Wonderspace reopens at Fashion Square
BY KRISTINE CANNON
Progress Staff Writer
Strap on a mask and have your camera at the ready: Wonderspaces reopened inside Scottsdale Fashion Square and launched nine new exhibits, including Cape Town-based artist Pierre le Riche’s famously vibrant, threaded installation called “Rainbow Room,” boasting multi-colored yarn.
Wonderspaces reopened with not only new artwork but also new health and cleanliness protocols in place.
Protocols include checking temperatures upon arrival, signi�icantly reducing the number of visitors who enter the show every 15 minutes, making hand sanitizer readily available, cleaning commonly touched surfaces with greater frequency, and two ventilation units will continuously pull air out of the space during operating hours.
All team members and visitors are required to wear face coverings at all times, except when eating or drinking; and visitors who do not bring their own mask will be given one at check-in. Children under 6 are not required to wear a face covering.
Wonderspaces will also limit face-toface interactions between visitors and their team at reception and at the bar, which now has plexiglass barriers.
They also only sell tickets online, eliminating the use of cash.
“These measures will change over time, and our current policies will always be available on our website,” said Wonderspaces Arizona General Manager Leilani Hudson. “Our show hours will also be limited through the end of the month.”
Wonderspaces’ new artworks include “Into The Breath” by Stefano Ogliari Badessi, “Fuji” by Joanie Lemercier, “Put Your Head Into a Gallery” by
The most popular installation currently showing at Wonderspaces is “Fuji” by Joanie Lemercier, an audiovisual artwork that combines a large-scale, hand-drawn landscape depiction of Fujiyama augmented by a layer of projected light.
(Airi Katsuta)
in conservative South Africa, and is intended to stimulate a dialogue about identity, exploring struggles of discrimination, acceptance, and mascuPierre le Riche’s “Rainbow Room” refl ects le Riche’s exlinity,” Wonderspaces perience growing up as a gay man in conservative South states on its website. Africa “and is intended to stimulate a dialogue about idenThe most popular tity, exploring struggles of discrimination, acceptance, and masculinity.” (Pierre le Riche/Wonderspaces) new installation, according to Hudson, is Tezi Gabunia, and the aforementioned “Fuji,” an audiovisual “Rainbow Room.” artwork part of Joanie Lemercier’s vol
The Rainbow Room is constructed cano series that combines a large-scale, from more than 10 miles of acrylic hand-drawn landscape depiction of thread representing the colors of the Fujiyama augmented by a layer of propride �lag. jected light.
Inside, guests will see the 1995 rugby “The installation recreates an abworld cup �inal match playing on the TV stracted version of the story of Prinpositioned in the center of a traditional cess Kaguya or ‘The Tale of the Bamboo Afrikaan family living room. Cutter.’ This is considered the oldest “The installation re�lects the artist’s Japanese �ictional narrative or folktale,” experience growing up as a gay man Hudson said.
“By using illumination and motion as symbolic elements, the characters and emotional characteristics of the story are transformed into light.”
Wonderspaces plans to rotate one to two new artworks from around the world into its show every one to two months.
“Our mission is to create a shared understanding through shared experiences. The artists and artworks featured in our shows prompt us to question our reality,” Hudson explained.
“The installations rewrite the laws that govern the physical world and our interactions with it,” she continued. “Departing from what we know to be true, they offer glimpses into what else there can be, moments where their realities become ours.”
Wonderspaces recently opened its Austin and Philly locations.
