The Hydro-Luge may be getting the biggest play on Lagoon's flashy electronic marquee on Lagoon Drive, but I know better. The big push again this season is first-class entertainment - from the high-energy Music USA revue and the park's two marching bands to an all-new children's revue, a newly redecorated Carousel Stage for Summer Rhythm and a brand new Wild West Show (the latter geared to emphasize fun and frolic, while steering away from the gunplay and violence).
From Opryland USA to Six Flags Magic Mountain, the nation's biggest theme parks have discovered that some patrons don't thrive on a constant diet of white-knuckle rides.It's nice to stop and smell the roses . . . or listen to the music . . . once in a while.
And Lagoon is no different.
It's Memorial Day weekend and time for Utah's oldest amusement park to open its gates for another summer of rides (both wet and wild), picnics and entertainment.
(See Deseret News staff writer Lynn Arave's related stories for tips on avoiding long lines, etc., during your Lagoon visit.)
The daily entertainment schedule lists 11 separate full-time groups and shows, including the All-Star Band, the park's premiere marching ensemble; the L.A. Goon Band, which confines its marching to goofy clowning around rather than smart, military-like drills; the new Doo-Wop Boppers, a strolling quartet, and a variety of roving Lagoon characters.
Peter Freed, president of Lagoon Corp., said this week that he and his department heads decided earlier this year "that live entertainment has proven so successful that we would add more than we had before. That has been our main focus."
Freed said Lagoon's guests have shown "they do like the entertainment. It gives them a much fuller day in addition to just the rides. For several years now, we've been working to make this not just a kids' park or a teenagers' park, but a park for the whole family."
In addition to the new Hydro-Luge and more entertainment, visitors to the park this season will see a few new activities and concessions along the midway, including a large new building under construction directly in front of the Music USA amphitheater where churros, yogurt and other treats will be sold.
Last year's big project - a total revamping of the parking lot - is nearly complete.
Freed said this was initially envisioned as a two- to three-year projected budgeted at about $200,000.
"Typical of such projects, it ended up costing closer to $1 million, but visitors will soon be enjoying the new flowers, shrubs and fountains" enhancing the parking area.
The new Hydro-Luge ride, Freed said, was designed by a Swiss company and manufactured in the United States.
"We were kind of apprehensive about bringing it here," he said, noting that it looks like it should be in Lagoon-a-Beach.
"But we talked to people from Magic Mountain and Six Flags and other parks and they've been happy with it there."
Freed said it's similar in many respects to the Alpine Slide in Park City, except this uses rigid, two-man rafts that glide on water running through the twisting, turning tubes.
"We had a choice and decided to use two tubes - one blue and the other black. Some people don't want to see where they're going," he noted.
The ride is designed to handle 800 to 1,000 passengers an hour.
It also involves climbing a couple flights of stairs - so you shouldn't feel guilty about stopping at the ice cream parlor in Gaslight Square for a double-dip cone.
Over the past several years, under the guiding hand of the late Ron Van Woerden, the quality of Lagoon's entertainment has grown consistently better from season to season. The longtime Lagoon entertainment director died on April 11, but his concepts and plans for the 1994 shows were pretty much in place.
One of Van Woerden's former Salt Lake Acting Company colleagues and collaborators, Edward J. Gryska, was called in to shepherd the shows through to completion. Gryksa has nearly 25 years of professional experience as a director in the area, most recently directing shows for Desert Star Playhouse and Park City Performances.
Mark Robinette is musical director for all of Lagoon's entertainment.
Even with all the new entertainment and other activities on line this year for Lagoon visitors, the one thing Peter Freed would most like to see is the reopening of the beloved old Opera House. The 300-seat, New England style theater opened in 1968 and, over the years, has been the setting for Broadway and off-Broadway musicals.
Here's a show-by-show look at the park's 1994 entertainment lineup:
- Music USA: "On the Radio," in the Lagoon Music Theatre, immediately south of the roller coaster. Performances are Mondays through Saturdays at 7:30 and 9 p.m. My personal preference is the 9 p.m. edition. The lighting is more effective at night.
Directed by Gryska (assisted by guest choreographer Patti Columbo, who choreographed last season's show) this features an eight-member cast singing and dancing their way through more than 50 songs, segmented into various time periods and pop music eras. Songs range from such familiar tunes as "No, Not Much" and "Let's Twist Again" to "Leader of the Pack" and Billy Joel's latest hit, "River of Dreams," along with Beatles, disco and Madonna medleys.
Lagoon is known for its high-velocity rides. This is a high-velocity production.
There are 10 performers - five men and five women - in the Music USA cast, but only eight (four plus four) in each actual performance. This rotation arrangement allows two performers to take their required days off during the week.
"Music USA" performers are Justin Brown, Troy Baldwin, Jason Hughes, Kristopher Goodwill, Brian Clark, Britani Nordberg, Alisa Nordberg, Mara Robinson, Jenni Giauque and Camille Bailey.
The scenery, designed by John Wayne Cooke and constructed by a team from the Pioneer Theatre Company scene shop, looks like a giant old-fashioned radio. The dial lights up and knobs will move. The dates of the various pop music eras - the '50s, '60s, etc. - will appear on the dial as they're being performed on the stage below.
- Summer Rhythm: Carousel Stage, directly south of the historic merry-go-round in a shady, tree-lined, multilevel plaza. Performances on Tuesdays-Wednesdays at 4, 5:30 and 6:45 p.m. and Thursdays through Saturdays at 5:15, 6:30 and 8:15 p.m. The ensemble of musicians and singers includes K.C. Eldridge, Erik Hickenlooper, Kelly Frances, Annette Thueson, Tiffiny Cotton, Kevin Olsen and Mark Maxson.
- Little Rascals: This group will perform Thursdays-Saturdays at 1:15, 2:30 and 3:45 on the Carousel Stage. Youngsters in the group include Michaela Koerner, Megan Murdock, Jessica Giauque, Ashley Jarrett, Cody Harward, Steve Wilkin, Kirk Cullimore and Ryan Osorio.
The young singers have two separate shows, which will alternate. One has an Americana theme and the other is a mix of silly songs (familiar tunes with strange words) and a "Little Mermaid" medley. Performers in the Little Rascals range from 12 to 15 years of age.
- All-Star Band will strut along the midway Mondays through Fridays at 5 and 6:15 p.m. and Saturdays at 1, 2, 3:30 and 5 p.m. This well-trained, precision marching unit is comprised of 22 young musicians from throughout the valley on trumpet, trombone, saxophone, tuba, mellophone and percussion.
- L.A. Goon Band: Smaller than the All-Star Band, this group blends both music and comedy. Catch it along the midway Tuesdays through Fridays, at various times from 3 to 9 p.m., and on Saturdays from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. If you mixed John Phillip Sousa, Victor Borge and Spike Jones, you'd get the basic idea for the L.A. Goon Band. The marchers are Jason Chapman, Cameron Muir, Scott Turner, Kale Rodabaugh, Brent Eberhard and Jeremiah Green.
- Wild West Show: Performances in Pioneer Village daily except Sundays. Show times are 4:30, 5:45 and 6:45 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, and 2:30, 4, 5:30 and 6:45 p.m. on Saturdays. The focus this year is on old-time saloon style music and comedy and exciting stuntwork. But you won't see villains getting shot and killed. Not this year. Taking a new, more "socially correct" stance for 1994, there will be some gunplay, but it won't be nearly as violent.
The feeling is that, in previous seasons, impressionable young kids may have gotten the idea that you could shoot someone and - miraculously, a few moments later - they'd stand up and walk away.
So Lagoon is downplaying the guns and emphasizing the fun and music.
Members of this ensemble are Adrienne Gunn, Julie Best and Rebecca Turner, along with stuntmen Ernest Bourne, Scott Taylor, Emil Harker, Bob Aamodt, Brett Hickenlooper and Tony Williams, and the four-member Pioneer Posse (see below).
- Pioneer Posse is a barbershop quartet group. The four guys also dance and sing in the Wild West Show. When they're not in the show itself, they'll stroll through Pioneer Village, harmonizing barbership tunes. Members of this group are Jeffrie Watson, Matt Cropper, Joseph Hale and Jamie Carson. The Posse will perform Mondays and Wednesdays-Saturdays from 3 to 8 p.m.
- Doo-Wop Boppers: This quartet of two guys and two gals will stroll and vocalize along the midway Tuesdays-Fridays from 3 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m. The foursome (Mark Taylor, Jana Jackson, Clark Cheney and Kim Shaner) will perform such tunes as "Sh-Boom," "Mr. Postman," "Chantilly Lace," "Earth Angel" and other doo-wop ditties.
Note: the Doo-Wop Boppers, Pioneer Posse and the L.A. Goon Band will rotate on Sundays, each group performing every third Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.
- Pioneer Village Music Hall: Demonstrations of pianos and musical instruments in the museum, 3-8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays and 2-8 p.m. on Saturdays.
- Wildlife Show, Pioneer Village: Three different wildlife demonstrations on a new stage in Pioneer Village, including educational programs on snakes, reptiles, birds of prey and other Western animals. Show times are 3:30, 5 and 6:15 p.m. Mondays-Fridays; 1:30, 3:30, 5 and 6:15 p.m. on Saturdays, and 1:30, 3:30 and 5 p.m. on Sundays.
- Lagoon characters: A variety of costumed characters, including Charlie Chaplin, Peggy Sue, Too Tall, Juggler and Balloon Man, throughout the midway daily from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m.