09-17-2023 Fall Arts Guide - Flipbook - Page 4
4 The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, September 17, 2023
FALL ARTS PREVIEW
King of
Crownsville
Meet Fred Nelson, the actor who plays
Maryland Renaissance Festival’s Henry VIII
By Mike Klingaman
Stroll the grounds at the Maryland Renaissance Festival in
Crownsville and you’re bound to
bump into King Henry VIII, the
big, bearded, blustery monarch
around whose life the nine-weekend fair is based.
For 20 years, the role of the
sovereign has belonged to Fred
Nelson of Glen Burnie.
The Baltimore Sun caught up
with Nelson to ask a few questions about his royal perspective.
Q: Are you as one with Henry
VIII?
A: I’m a completely different
person from the character that I
play. At work, as a TV producer
for the U.S. Census Bureau, I
spend most of my time in a quiet,
darkened room with equipment
that beeps at me. I stay in the
background, out of sight.
But at the Renaissance Festival,
I’m the loud, booming, sociable Henry with a temper that
can rage. I much prefer to be the
man behind the curtain than that
bombastic Oz.
Q: Does your costume help you
prepare for the role?
A: That 30-pound [outfit] is a
constant reminder of the shoes I
have to fill. It’s a very restrictive
costume of brocades and silks,
with a frilly court shirt, tunic vest,
jerkin [jacket], schaub [cloak],
chain of office and crown with a
fringe of feathers. It’s a weightloss regimen I would not recommend.
The first few years of playing
Henry, my upper back, shoulders
and neck were killing me. It took
awhile to realize that the problem
wasn’t the weight of the costume
— it was me, underneath it, trying
to puff myself up to be this imposing figure.
Q: Between the daily, historybased theatrical shows at the
festival, you mingle with the
crowd. Does Henry’s persona
change there?
A: I can be the dictatorial Henry
VIII on stage but, down in the
street, Henry must deal with
families and kids. There, I can’t
be grousing about chopping off
peoples’ heads. It’s an interesting
dichotomy, playing both sides of
the character.
Q: How do children react to your
larger-than-life portrayal of the
16th century king?
A: I love interacting with kids, but
I have to be careful. To them, I
can seem to be either the biggest,
friendliest Muppet ever or — no
matter how glittery and happy
I appear — I can be something
emanating from their nightmares.
And you have to respect that. Kids
are surprisingly discerning.
Q: Are visitors cowed by meeting
you?
A: Some see me coming and think,
‘Ohmygosh, he’s going to expect
me to speak in a Renaissance
language.’ Others show up every
weekend, in a different freaking costume, ready to bow and
scrape to me and play the part.
The majority of people need to
be drawn out of their shells a bit.
The easiest are the seniors; they
want to flirt, hear the story lines
and put their arms around you.
I’ve had my butt pinched by more
80-year-old women than you
could imagine.
Q: Does your own wife fear losing
her noggin?
A: [My wife] Sasha and I have
been married 10 years; she has
a very solid head on her shoulders. She knows it’s not going
anywhere and, at home, I’ve
learned to watch out for mine.
Fred Nelson portrays King Henry VIII with Laurie Simonds, left, as Queen Jane Seymour, in Revel Grove at the
Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville.“I can be the dictatorial Henry VIII on stage but, down in the street,
Henry must deal with families and kids,” Nelson said.“There, I can’t be grousing about chopping off peoples’ heads.”
KIM HAIRSTON/BALTIMORE SUN
Q: Does your regal role spill over
at home?
A: On weekends, until 7 p.m., I’m
the king of England; at 7:01, I take
out the trash.
all of his wives. He had a long and
fascinating life that was so much
more than just a fat guy with a
turkey leg.
Q: In 2003, you replaced a
beloved actor in this role. What
was the cast’s response?
A: At the first rehearsal, I was
Q: Growing up, were you a fan of
medieval lore?
A: As a military brat growing up
in Guam, Spain, Guantánamo
Bay and Korea, nothing in my
upbringing prepared me for playing a 16th century British king. All
I knew about Henry was that he
was a fat guy who walked around
eating a turkey leg and that he
had eight wives, because of the
[Herman’s Hermits] song. I didn’t
know that, for a time, he was
young and fit, or that he didn’t kill
petrified; I saw myself as an interloper. When everyone stood up
to introduce themselves, I said,
‘I’m Fred and I play Henry VIII.’
There was silence. Then one guy
stood up and shouted, ‘God save
the King!’ Then all 40 people, in
unison, shouted the same, and
that was it.
Q: At 60, you’ve embraced this
part for two decades. What does
the future hold?
A: I’m still agile enough to
continue the role, so I’ll be around
for a bit. I’ve been doing this for
so long that the kids I once knew
here now introduce me to their
children. I’m proud that Henry
has made such a positive impression on so many lives, so I’ve got
a good feeling about what I’ll one
day leave behind.
MARYLAND
RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL
The festival runs every weekend
through Oct. 22. Tickets cost $24
for adults. 1821 Crownsville Road,
Annapolis. rennfest.com
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