SeaWorld show to be dreamlike
By Chris Cobbs | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted March 16, 2005
Brilliantly colored birds soaring and swooping. Dolphins leaping to new heights. Human performers in Broadway-styled costumes cavorting in the sea and plunging from bungees.
The varied cast of Blue Horizons comes to life when a young girl travels to a place where sea and sky meet, a realm of foaming waves and iridescent bubbles, untethered imagination and just a hint of danger.
Blue Horizons is a new show that opens in May at SeaWorld Orlando, where hundreds of workers are now crafting a 40-foot-tall stage and an extension of the 14-foot-deep, see-through wall enclosing the pool at the park's Whale and Dolphin Stadium.
The show, 15 months in the making, represents SeaWorld's latest effort to create a new attraction in the highly competitive battle for tourist dollars in Central Florida.
"We want people to leave feeling light-hearted along with a sense of awe and unencumbered freedom," said Dave Goodman, the theme park's vice president of entertainment.
The focal point of Blue Horizons will be a retrained group of dolphins that will vault as high as 25 feet out of the water during a 20-minute theatrical show accompanied by a high-energy soundtrack.
"The show will be like stepping into the imagination of a young girl, Marina, on the cusp of adolescence, with a yearning for freedom and a strong attraction to dolphins, who represent happiness and free spirits," Goodman said.
The new show will be more theatrical than previous SeaWorld shows, centering on a 100-foot-wide set that resembles an abstract, crashing wave with glowing colors.
Dolphins, false killer whales and birds will share the spotlight with a human cast of divers and aerialists garbed in colorful outfits instead of your basic black or red wetsuits.
The set, nearing completion, was designed by Stanley Meyer, who worked on the Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast. The costumes were created by Tracy Christensen, who also worked on Beauty and the Beast and on Fiddler on the Roof.
The set is being built next to the existing pool, which has been closed since September except for short periods at Christmas and spring break, allowing for construction of a plexiglass wall that will let the audience peer into the action under the waves.
Along with the construction work, SeaWorld trainers have been re-schooling more than a dozen dolphins for Blue Horizons.
"They've had to learn a lot of new behaviors," Goodman said.
"Dolphins are very strong and very smart, but they are not that easy to train, and they are potentially dangerous creatures who can kill a shark with their noses. Their strength and power play into the show."
They will be joined by a variety of birds, including blue and gold macaws, sun conures and a giant Andean condor.
"You will see birds appear and disappear," Goodman said.
"They will fly over the audience, circle and then soar off to a landing place on the set. It will all take place in an explosion of color in the sky and water."
Chris Cobbs can be reached at ccobbs@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5447.
By Chris Cobbs | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted March 16, 2005
Brilliantly colored birds soaring and swooping. Dolphins leaping to new heights. Human performers in Broadway-styled costumes cavorting in the sea and plunging from bungees.
The varied cast of Blue Horizons comes to life when a young girl travels to a place where sea and sky meet, a realm of foaming waves and iridescent bubbles, untethered imagination and just a hint of danger.
Blue Horizons is a new show that opens in May at SeaWorld Orlando, where hundreds of workers are now crafting a 40-foot-tall stage and an extension of the 14-foot-deep, see-through wall enclosing the pool at the park's Whale and Dolphin Stadium.
The show, 15 months in the making, represents SeaWorld's latest effort to create a new attraction in the highly competitive battle for tourist dollars in Central Florida.
"We want people to leave feeling light-hearted along with a sense of awe and unencumbered freedom," said Dave Goodman, the theme park's vice president of entertainment.
The focal point of Blue Horizons will be a retrained group of dolphins that will vault as high as 25 feet out of the water during a 20-minute theatrical show accompanied by a high-energy soundtrack.
"The show will be like stepping into the imagination of a young girl, Marina, on the cusp of adolescence, with a yearning for freedom and a strong attraction to dolphins, who represent happiness and free spirits," Goodman said.
The new show will be more theatrical than previous SeaWorld shows, centering on a 100-foot-wide set that resembles an abstract, crashing wave with glowing colors.
Dolphins, false killer whales and birds will share the spotlight with a human cast of divers and aerialists garbed in colorful outfits instead of your basic black or red wetsuits.
The set, nearing completion, was designed by Stanley Meyer, who worked on the Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast. The costumes were created by Tracy Christensen, who also worked on Beauty and the Beast and on Fiddler on the Roof.
The set is being built next to the existing pool, which has been closed since September except for short periods at Christmas and spring break, allowing for construction of a plexiglass wall that will let the audience peer into the action under the waves.
Along with the construction work, SeaWorld trainers have been re-schooling more than a dozen dolphins for Blue Horizons.
"They've had to learn a lot of new behaviors," Goodman said.
"Dolphins are very strong and very smart, but they are not that easy to train, and they are potentially dangerous creatures who can kill a shark with their noses. Their strength and power play into the show."
They will be joined by a variety of birds, including blue and gold macaws, sun conures and a giant Andean condor.
"You will see birds appear and disappear," Goodman said.
"They will fly over the audience, circle and then soar off to a landing place on the set. It will all take place in an explosion of color in the sky and water."
Chris Cobbs can be reached at ccobbs@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5447.
