How should a Winter Carnival princess stand on stage?
When can the West Wind fire blanks from his pistol?
Is it OK for the Vulcans to drink while in costume?
By the time the 2010 St. Paul Winter Carnival lets loose downtown Thursday, the royals — King Boreas Rex, the four winds and a bevy of princesses — as well as their nemesis, the Vulcans, will know the answers: one foot in front of the other; only during the parades; and yes, sometimes.
"We emphasize that they are actors in a play," said Kathy Zwieg, a past carnival prime minister and one of the dozens of people coaching the new royal family ahead of their big debut.
And with a play this big — up to 300,000 people attend the 11-day festival — it's good to have the details right.
"It's coaching," said Joe Johnston, a longtime carnival volunteer and an adviser this year. "We've all had the pleasure of carrying the festival message, and this keeps (the 2010 royals) from stumbling."
The main Legend characters — the winds, princesses and royal guards — have met four times this winter to practice everything from how to mount a stage to mingling with elected officials.
King Boreas Rex — his identity is being kept secret until Thursday's coronation — has met with mentors, mostly past kings, a dozen times since fall.
"It's like making sure a new CEO is ready to join this small company," Zwieg said of the intense lead-up to the carnival for Boreas.
On Tuesday night, training for the royals included a run-through of a faux knighting on a Landmark Center stage.
One of the Queen of the Snows candidates, in telling the carnival legend to the audience of "kids" — actually past royalty, their families and carnival organizers — described Vulcanus Rex as "the bad guy."
"We don't want to say 'bad guy,' " Greg Kuntz, Boreas from 2001, reminded her.
"Oh, he's the foe," she said, correcting herself.
Then it was time to review blocking on the stage.
What about the guards, someone asked.
"They look good, but I think you need to hear them stomp in. And is there any reason they're all bunched up together?" an adviser said.
"Guards, some of you look like a deer in headlights," said Ted Zwieg, Kathy Zwieg's husband and Boreas from 1994. "You're happy to be here. Wear smiles. Let people know you're having fun."
"Who has gum in their mouths?" another person asked.
One guard spit out a wad.
Now, how about posture?
"Ladies, it's OK to drop the winds' elbows, then move forward and wave," one adviser suggested. "Then reconnect when you've been introduced. Wait ...
"
Another person in the audience didn't think the potential princesses should go arm-in-arm with winds after waving.
"OK, don't reconnect," the adviser said.
A past princess in the audience piped up and voted for holding onto the winds' arms.
"You're a wind group," she said. "I always held onto my wind's arm."
Holding on it is, the group agreed.
Should we clap when we're introduced, one of the queen candidates asked.
"Royalty doesn't clap," an adviser said.
Then the group tried to determine whether the women were standing "regally."
They decided "regal" means one foot in front of the other.
Now onto the winds — should they stand with arms folded or one arm behind them and the other at their side?
The group chose the one-arm-behind look.
"It just looks clean," a coach said.
"It looks very sharp," another added.
The final exercise for the night was a doozy: How do the royals help the queen exit from a meet-and-greet with area mayors if she has to use the restroom?
"Do it quietly," Kuntz suggested.
Even the volunteers who don't get dressed up — the behind-the-scenes folks more likely to be found tracking down a permit than performing for a school — got a quick reminder this year about what makes the carnival fun and what can ruin it.
During a 30-minute meeting Tuesday in an old courtroom in Landmark Center, a couple of dozen volunteers — mostly the heads of the different legend groups — heard from St. Paul police, a parks employee and even the carnival's insurer.
"I do have to be a little bit of a curmudgeon as far as the fire trucks and guns go," police Cmdr. David Mathison said, noting that only permitted gun users are allowed to fire their weapons in public, and then only in designated areas.
Part of the carnival's event permit allows the West Wind character to discharge blanks from a pistol along the Grande Day and Torchlight parade routes and within Rice Park or on Fourth Street between Washington and Market streets during the dethroning of Boreas.
Follow the rules, Mathison warned the West Wind.
"I don't want to have to take anybody to jail," he said. "This is a fun time."
To the Vulcans, he cautioned about their fire truck.
"Please don't use your siren unless you're in a parade," he asked.
Angela Mens, with St. Paul Parks and Recreation, first told the crowd how much the city enjoyed working with the carnival.
Then she got a little serious talking about all the events taking place in public parks.
"Please don't drive any fire trucks — Hail the Vulcs! — into our parks," she said.
Phil Schenkenberg, an attorney with Briggs and Morgan in Minneapolis and counsel for the carnival, said that he had already run through the protocol manual with Boreas, the queen candidates and the Vulcans and that following the guidelines is important in throwing a good festival.
"We take it very seriously," he said. "We want people treated with respect and dignity."
On alcohol, he advised the royals: "Don't put yourself in a position where you have to make a decision after five drinks," he said. And, per protocol, costumed characters are allowed to drink only at the behest of Boreas or Vulcanus Rex, and then only at invitation-only events, such as a dinner hosted by Boreas.
"I'll see something every year that will give me heart palpitations," Jeff Maas, an agent with Associated Insurance, the carnival's insurer, told the group.
Last year, his moment came when he saw a senior royalty candidate trying to navigate an icy stretch of sidewalk in high heels.
"Everybody carry a little shaker of ice melt," he instructed. "I saw a couple volunteers with them last year, and it was phenomenal."
Beth Pinkney, CEO of the St. Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation, the group that puts on the carnival, added that it's a good idea to snap a photo of any potential insurance issues during the carnival.
"If you see an accident, take a picture with your cell phone camera," she said.
Then she dispensed the final bit of advice for the night: "Promote the Winter Carnival. Wear your buttons!"
John Brewer can be reached at 651-228-2093.
