man behind the water curtain

I may be the only 23-year-old male obsessed with the art of musical fountains. It began when I first saw the Waltzing Waters attraction in Cape Coral, Florida at age five. Located near the German-American Club, the Waters provided much-needed relief in my life (my parents had divorced and we moved to Florida from Iowa). My mother and I bought a season pass to the show, which at the time was combined with a water ski show and a dolphin and sea lion show. It was not uncommon for us to go straight to the Waters, which were set against large Austrian Pines.
I became well known to the staff and began to get special treatment. One fountain operator, an elderly gentleman named John Quincy Adams (!), would let me run the fountains after hours. I credit the Waltzing Waters with my eclectic taste in music, from classical to obscure German pop artists (the owners were German). My parents and I would break our necks trying to find the albums used at the Waltzing Waters, a difficult task since much of the music originated in Europe. I'm still looking for some titles.
The years went by and I continued visiting the Waters at least once a week. Eventually, it moved from Cape Coral to Fort Myers. An indoor show was performed during the day with the outdoor show after dark.
It was there that I came to know Doug, a fountain operator who did the voice announcements. As a child, I would insist on sitting in the front row by the panel board so I could watch the show and the controls at the same time. Doug would be performing the shows live, and I would hum quietly to myself. After one show, Doug told me either not to hum or to sit somewhere else because I was throwing off his timing. The owner made Doug apologize. It would not be until years later that we became friends.
At 16, I approached the owner for a part-time job as a fountain operator. By now, the show was fully automated. The music was programmed in advance and played back using tape deck. After I had been there a few months, Doug announced he would be leaving. The owner asked me to take over. I was ecstatic. I began preparing the numbers that I wished to choreograph.
The programming is a type of cascading process. First, you have to select music that best shows the capabilities of the fountain. Secondly, the music has to be recorded and edited on open reel, multi-track decks. The music is recorded on tracks 1 and 3 and the computer information on tracks 2 and 4. A written version of the choreography is done as a cue sheet.
After the operator was comfortable with the timing, the programming began. The computer would feed a line from the panel board to the tape deck. The music was already recorded, so it was only necessary to record on the other tracks. The music would be played back, and the operator would perform the show in real time.
The effects and formations were so numerous that it would take a person with 20 hands to do it all at once. For this reason, shows would be programmed in several steps. First, basic water formations would be laid down. The second recording would include additional water formations, or the use of special effects (waltz, sway, twist). After the water was complete, lights were added to highlight the formations and the score. When the operator played back the tape, with lines 2 and 4 fed back through the computer, the show would perform automatically. Today some shows record on CDs instead of tape.
I had completed only a few shows when the news came in 1990 that the Fort Myers location was closing. The owner was not well and the son wanted to concentrate on international distribution. Later the Waters reopened at the Shell Factory, a large gift shop that sells ocean memorabilia. It has a free show twice nightly in the middle of a lake.
Although I do not program any more, I still tour the country when I can to see other Waltzing Waters shows. I have seen the one here at Sea World in Orlando, the one in the Mall of America in Minnesota (poorly displayed), the one in Branson, the one in the Wisconsin Dells, and those at Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm. I have also seen another type of fountain in the Dells at one of Tommy Bartlett's shows, but it is a poor imitation.
Although I may be biased, Waltzing Waters produces the most elaborate and well-choreographed productions. Their gimmick is that the waters waltz and sway through the use of underwater motors. One of my goals is to someday see every Waltzing Waters display in the world.