Weeki Wachee Spring was at one time famous for its underwater show; it's still advertised as "home of the living mermaids." The brainchild of a former Navy frogman, Newt Perry, who worked a lot in show biz (he was a good friend of Johnny Weismuller and trained the crews as well as doubled for Tarzan in the underwater scenes), the mermaid show has been going on since 1947. Perry taught his teenagers to do stunts such as eating and drinking underwater, using only air hoses to breathe, free-dive to the bottom of the spring at 117 feet below the surface, and specially to perform graceful ballet moves that look beautiful in the crystalline water of the spring.In its heyday, Weeki Wachee Spring was the setting for underwater scenes in movies such as "Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid" and Esther Williams movies. ABC acquired it in the 1960's and built the present Underwater Theater. Before Disney attractions overshadowed it, the shows were quite elaborate and even Elvis Presley visited it. There's a photo of Elvis with his underwater fan club.
Today the kitschy roadside attraction is a Florida state park, and the show would have closed a few years ago it if hadn't been for the dedicated work of former mermaids who organized to save it. The retired mermaids, ranging in age from forty into their seventies, still perform as volunteers once a month and the lady who lives in the house next door is one of them.
We went to see the show yesterday (they only have it on weekends these days) with David, who is down here for a long weekend. The mermaids are still beautiful but the show and props are a bit seedy; whether another cultural shift can yet bring it back to its former glory, no one knows.
