Latest role lands Lakeville actor among the mermaids
Andy Wilkins
Andy Wilkins has been brushing up on mermaid lore.
It’s research for the 27-year-old Lakeville actor’s latest role, which will see him portraying the salty sea captain Jonas Fairweather and recounting oceanic adventures at this year’s Renaissance Festival.
The storytelling sea captain is a featured part of Mermaid Cove, the new family-friendly attraction at the annual festival in Shakopee, which this year runs weekends Aug. 18 to Sept. 30.
Adorned in a Royal Navy-like costume, Wilkins will tell the tale of how he met the mermaid Ambrosia as guests watch the exotic female sea creature twirl and flip her tail of shimmering scales in a pool of water nearby.
The role marks Wilkins’ first time performing at the Renaissance Festival, which he’s been attending religiously since early childhood.
“I usually go a couple times a year,” he said. “My parents began taking me when I was 5 or 6, and I try to go at least once every year.”
The Renaissance Festival gig is the latest in what has been a busy year in theater for Wilkins, a 2003 Lakeville High School graduate who works as a voiceover artist and copy writer for a Bloomington ad agency.
This month he’s also serving as director of “The Odd Couple,” which is being presented by community theater group Expressions on the stage of the Lakeville Area Arts Center.
And 2012 also saw Wilkins’ silver-screen debut. “House of Ghosts,” a camp-horror film shot in the Twin Cities, had Wilkins playing a spirit-medium leading a seance-like scene, complete with crystal ball. The film from cult director Christopher Mihm premiered in May.
More about Mermaid Cove and the Renaissance Festival is at www.renaissancefest.com.
