''Billy Rose's Aquacade'' was a music, dance and swimming show produced by

Billy Rose Billy Rose (born William Samuel Rosenberg; September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966) was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. For years both before and after World War II, Billy Rose was a major force in entertainment, with ...

at the Great Lakes Exposition in Cleveland, Ohio during its second year, in 1937. The show featured Olympians

Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. H ...

, Eleanor Holm Jarret, Dick Degener, and other performers in a 5000-seat amphitheater that could seat 2000 diners. There was a 128 foot wide floating stage constructed on barges that could be moved to shore electrically for use as a dance floor. Dance bands such as

Wayne King Harold Wayne King (February 16, 1901 – July 16, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter, and bandleader with a long association with both NBC and CBS. He was referred to as "the Waltz King" because much of his most popular music involved w ...

Shep Fields Shep may refer to: People Given name * Shep Fields, American band leader * Shep Goodman, American music producer and songwriter * Shep Gordon, American talent manager, Hollywood film agent, and producer *Shep Mayer, Canadian ice hockey player * Sh ...

, and

Glen Gray Glenn Gray Knoblauch (June 7, 1900 – August 23, 1963), known professionally as Glen Gray, was an American jazz saxophonist and leader of the Casa Loma Orchestra.'' The Mississippi Rag'', "Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra," George A. B ...

and his

Casa Loma Orchestra The Casa Loma Orchestra was an American dance band active from 1929 to 1963. Until the rapid multiplication in the number of swing bands from 1935 on, the Casa Loma Orchestra was one of the top North American dance bands. With the decline of the b ...

performed there. 2-Billy-Rose-Aquacade-Worlds-Fair-1939

Later ''Aquacade'' moved to the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Pur ...

where it was the most successful production of the fair (Lowe). The

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

11,000 seat amphitheatre at the north end of Meadow Lake was designed by architects Sloan & Robertson. Shows were staged by

John Murray Anderson John Murray Anderson (September 20, 1886 – January 30, 1954) was a Canadian theatre director and producer, songwriter, actor, screenwriter, dancer and lighting designer, who made his career in the United States, primarily in New York City and ...

to the orchestrations of

Ted Royal Ted Royal ewar'' (6 September 1904, Skedee, Oklahoma - 27 March (?) 1981) was an American orchestrator, conductor and composer for Broadway theatre. He was most active in the 1940s and 1950s, being associated with the very successful original p ...

. The pool and the 300 by stage could be hidden behind a lighted high curtain of water. In addition to Weissmuller and Holm,

Gertrude Ederle Gertrude Caroline Ederle (October 23, 1906 – November 30, 2003) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and world record-holder in five events. On August 6, 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. ...

, a

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and th ...

resident and the first woman to swim the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or (Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kan ...

, appeared in the Aquacade in 1939.

Morton Downey Sean Morton Downey (November 14, 1901 – October 25, 1985), also known as Morton Downey Sr., was an American singer and entertainer popular in the United States in the first half of the 20th century, enjoying his greatest success in the late 1 ...

, Frances Williams, and

Bill Robinson Bill Robinson, nicknamed Bojangles (born Luther Robinson; May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949), was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid African-American entertainer in the United States during the ...

appeared on stage. In late 1939, Rose married Holm after Holm had divorced singer Art Jarrett and he had divorced his first wife, comedian

Fanny Brice Fania Borach (October 29, 1891 – May 29, 1951), known professionally as Fanny Brice or Fannie Brice, was an American comedienne, illustrated song model, singer, and theater and film actress who made many stage, radio, and film appearances. ...

Buster Crabbe Clarence Linden Crabbe II (; February 7, 1908 – April 23, 1983), known professionally as Buster Crabbe, was an American two-time Olympic swimmer and film and television actor. He won the 1932 Olympic gold medal for 400-meter freestyle swimmi ...

replaced Weissmuller in 1940, for the second year of the Fair. In 1940, ''Aquacade'' also opened in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

at the

Golden Gate International Exposition The Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) (1939 and 1940), held at San Francisco's Treasure Island, was a World's Fair celebrating, among other things, the city's two newly built bridges. The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opened in 193 ...

where

Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...

and Virginia Hopkins joined the show.

Cultural references

Literature

* Susie Orman Schnall's novel ''We Came Here to Shine'' (

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

Griffin 2020) is historical fiction set at the

. One of the two main characters, Vivi, works as Aquabelle Number One in Billy Rose's Aquacade.

References

{{Reflist

Sources

* Cohen, Mark (2018). ''Not Bad for Delancey Street: The Rise of Billy Rose, America's Great Jewish Impresario.'' Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press. *''Art Deco New York''; D. Lowe; 2004; Watson-Guptill * "So Long at the Fair"; ''New York Times''; Jun 11, 1995 * "Love in the Ruins; Preservationists Fight to Save Crumbling Queens Aquacade"; L. Holloway. ''New York Times''; Jun 6, 1995 * ''1939: The Lost World of the Fair''; David Gelernter; Free Press, 1995 * ''aqua-''; Oxford English Dictionary Online, 2d Ed. * "THE ROSE ON THE WATER; Being a Brief Description of What Cleveland Will See in ''Aquacade''"; ''New York Times''; February 28, 1937 * "A Woman's New York: 4,000 Applicants Turn Up..." Alice Hughes; ''The Washington Post'' (1877-1954); Feb 28, 1939; * "The Water Show"; ''Wall Street Journal''; May 6, 1939 * "Eleanor Holm Jarrett Breaks With Band Leader-Husband"; ''The Washington Post''; July 21, 1937
''Hard Times, High Visions: Golden Gate International Exposition''
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley *Official Souvenir Guide; Great Lakes Exposition, 1937 *"Expo Has Rivals for Water Show"; ''The Cleveland Plain Dealer;'' April 18, 1937, p. 2 *"Billy Rose, Eleanor Hope for Marriage"; ''The Cleveland Plain Dealer;'' November 13, 1937, p. 14 *"Eleanor and Billy Take the Plunge"; The Cleveland Plain Dealer; November 15, 1939, p. 7 *Official Souvenir Guide; Golden Gate International Exhibition, 1940 *Wolfert, Ira. ''Carnival Men at Fair Must Be High-Pressure Salesmen;'' The Cleveland Plain Dealer; August 6, 1939. p. 37

External links

Aquacade
(original scores of music used in productions, now in the Music & Recorded Sound Division of the

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

) Swimming in the United States 1939 New York World's Fair Entertainment events in the United States