In these drought-conscious times, there's one place where you're never very far from pleasant reminders of water - Lagoon, the Farmington resort that's named after its very own small body of water.
The amusement park's namesake lagoon, encircled by the tracks for a junior-size pufferbelly train, is a little lower this year due to the region's drought conditions. But, at the edge of one shore, you can enjoy the excitement of a Tidal Wave; in the nearby Music USA Amphitheater, you can head "Back to the Beach," and down near the north end of the midway, you can catch this season's big drawing card - the International High Diving Spectacular, featuring Olympic-caliber divers.Lagoon has some other opportunities for finding relief from summer's heat, too - including its popular Lagoon A Beach water park, and the log flume ride in Pioneer Village, where that big, final plunge never fails to make a splash - dousing not only riders in the boat, but folks leaning against the railing at the bottom of the hill.
- OLIVER'S WATER SHOW and International High Diving Spectacular features six daredevil divers from Oliver's Organization, Switzerland.
This being an Olympics year, the show has an international flavor, the national flags of the various divers fluttering over Lagoon's Sun 'n' Fun Theater, at the north end of the midway, just past the park's video game arcade.
The divers include Stephane Hainault of Canada, the team captain; Alain Lobet of France; Klass Frieslund, Denmark; Magnus Gardarsson, Iceland; Rafael Guerrero, Mexico, and Bill Howe, from Riverton, Utah, representing the United States.
Host for the show is Brian Taylor, who revs up the audience and keeps the momentum going with interesting information about the athletes and their feats.
Leaping into the 10-foot deep pool from boards and platforms of varying heights, the divers' twists and flips become progressively more challenging as the show goes on.
There are two diving boards 12 feet above the surface of the 40,000-gallon pool, with platforms at 30, 50 and 85 feet.
To integrate an Olympic-style elements of competition into the show, three members of the audience are called out at one point to be judges between two of the divers. The judges have large flashcards imprinted with possible scores.
The divers taking part in this and other segments of the show vary from performance to performance, but the "competition" - such as it is - does have quite a bit of comedy, too.
This is not quite as serious as the Games in Barcelona.
Midway through the show, the divers all come out cavorting in clown costumes, doing an assortment of wild belly flops and cannonball leaps into the pool - drenching those fans seated in the first five rows. If you're planning to sit near the front, bring a raincoat or an umbrella.
As if causing mild tidal waves in the pool isn't enough, they also relish jumping gleefully through the puddles at the front of the stage - like Gene Kelly dancing and "Singing in the Rain."
The show's two biggest stunts come last.
One diver comes out attired head to toe in a black cotton suit. It's lit and in a few moments, the man turns into a human torch, after which he dives from the 30-foot platform in a blaze of bright orange flames and thick, black smoke.
For the finale, another daring diver climbs all the way up the tower to the 85-foot platform, then leaps into the pool (reaching speeds of 65 mph). The pool is only 10 feet deep and the slightest miscalculation would mean certain disaster.
The high-diving show is presented seven days a week. Performances are at 2:30, 4:30, 6:30 and 8:30 p.m., with an additional 12:30 p.m. show on Saturdays.
- IT MAY NOT BE AS WET, but things are nearly as wild at the opposite end of the midway in the big Music USA amphitheater just south of the resort's famous white wooden roller coaster.
The theme for the 1992 musical revue is "Beach Party." For half an hour or so, eight talented, energetic young performers entertain the crowds with some of the best songs from the '60s - from "Surf City" and "It's My Party" to "Itsy, Bitsy, Teeny, Weeny, Polka Dot Bikini" in the early '60s on through folk music and hits made famous by Tom Jones, Petula Clark and the Beatles.
The action is fast and the tunes just tumble out one after another while the ensemble (sometimes joined by folks coaxed up out of the audience) dances, rocks, twists and even hulas its way from one golden oldie to another.
Members of this season's Music USA troupe, directed by Ron Van Woerden, Lagoon entertainment director, include Fawna Jones, Kathryn Stagg, Melinda Ness, K.C. Eldridge, Kevin Burns and Jennifer McCreavy, all of Salt Lake City; Natalie Foster, Fruit Heights; Bret Bradford, Bountiful; Brett Wheadon, Centerville and Trent Brown, Kaysville.
There are no shows on Sunday, and at least two of the company will be taking time off on any given day, so that the eight performers (four boys, four girls) have a slightly different look from night to night, as various couples rotate in and out.
Performances of the splashy "Music USA" show are at 7:30 and 9 p.m. weeknights and Saturdays.
For one of the show's early segments, paying tribute to television's Golden Age and its influence on music during the 1960s, the singers reminded us of when Dinah Shore (a subliminal reference to yet another watery term?) encouraged TV audiences nationwide to "see the USA in your Chevrolet."
Immediately after this, the troupe shifted into a medley of Hawaiian favorites (although it's never explained how they traveled to the beach at Waikiki in those Chevys that Dinah Shore was pushing. Maybe the airplane was propelled by Chevrolet engines).
Naturally, there's a salute to those Frankie & Annette "beach blanket" movies, followed by dozens of songs covering one of the music industry's most colorful decades - soft rock, ballads, disco, folk - everything from "It's My Party" to "The Age of Aquarius."
Other live music around the park includes the Summer Rhythm band on the Carousel Stage, at 4, 5:30 and 6:45 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and at 5:15, 6:30 and 8:15 p.m. on Saturdays.
The Lagoon All-Star marching band and the off-the-wall L.A. Goon Band also perform several times a day (except the latter doesn't play on weekends and the former has Sundays off).
There's also music on Friday nights at Lagoon A Beach, where the water park is turned into the once-a-week Club Wet disco from 8:30 until 10:30 p.m., with both dancing and diving permitted.
For information regarding Lagoon's hours and performances, call 451-0101.