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The amphitheater seated 10,000 patrons for the daily shows at 3:30, 5:30, 8:30 and 10:45.

Above the seats, a stage manager controlled the switchboard for the 2,410 lamps and sound system.

A ramp surrounded the pool for the showgirls and dancers, known as the Aquabelles and Aquadudes. At either end two seventy – five – foot – high diving towers housed the orchestra and chorus.

The swimming pool was 300 feet long and fifty-five feet wide. It measured 9-feet deep on the ends, for the diving exhibitions, and 4-feet' in the center section, where most of the synchronized swimming took place. Lights under the water show the divers where the 5-foot drop is.

The pool caused constant problems at the Aquacade. Over time, the water became quite murky, causing a serious health hazard to the performers. In July, a filtering system, costing $30,000, that mixed ozone with the water was installed and the swimmers' ear trouble, pink eye and sinus infections cleared up dramatically.

Due to an unusually cold May, the pools temperatures ranged between fifty-one and fifty-three degrees. Billy Rose authorized the installation of a $7,500 heating system to keep the pool water at a comfortable 75 degrees. In September, Rose added installed an additional heating system, at a $10,000 expense, to raise the pool's temperature to 82 degrees for the autumn months.

The Sign Controversy

The Aquacade occupied a large portion of the New York State building. The major complaint came from Park Commissioner Robert Moses who objected to the huge lettering advertising the Aquacade and overwhelming the state's exhibit pavilion.

Columnist H. J. Phillips jibbed: "Mr. Moses ain't seen nothin' yet. Any day now he can expect to discover that Mr. Rose is working on a plan to have Grover Whalen act as a sandwich man for the Rose entertainment."

The state's Fair commission decided to add 6-foot letters, NEW YORK STATE, to the 5-foot' letters, AMPHITEATER AND EHIBITS." They also demanded the AQUACADE letters be reduced to 5-feet' from 8-feet.

The Performance

Billy Rose told the press the Aquacade contained the three things he most admired: sex, sentiment and curiosity. "Eleanor Holm in a tiny wet bathing suit is worth a hundred Sally Rands with or without bubbles (Irving Berlin stopped by the Aquacade one evening and jokingly inquired: "Say, Billy, by the way, whatever became of Sally Rand?") As for the show, it's a sort of a water Radio City Music Hall effect."

As the patrons took their seats, an 8,000-gallon-a-minute spraying system created a veil of mist 260-feet wide and 40-feet high in front of the pool area. Paul Whiteman and his orchestra occupied space under one diving tower and Fred Waring's Glee Club sang from the other.

Then the wall of water dropped, revealing a row of Aquabelles and Aquabeaux. They stood silently for ten seconds and then dove into the pool in a domino- like sequence.

The show consisted of four segments: "A Beach in Florida" featured Frances Williams singing "It Happened in Miami" while the Aquabelles and Aquabeaux frolicked along the stage or swam in intricate patterns.

The second segment introduced Eleanor Holm as Morton Downey sang the Billy Rose composed "Yours For A Song." (This number became a nationwide hit and the Fair adopted it as its official song during the late summer, discarding George Gershwin's "Dawn of a New Day.") Miss Holm also duet-swam with her water companion – Johnny Weissmuller. A roller skating sequence and a diving exhibition concluded this segment.

A self-partnering chorus routine made up the third scene.

The finale included the reappearance of Holm and Weissmuller and featured a parade of state banners culminating in a huge American flag-like banner spreading across a Ziegfeld- inspired staircase.

The patriotic segment, however, seemed to cause undo problems for Rose and his Aquacade. Members of the National Press Club of Washington DC appealed to Mayor LaGuardia to add the district's flag to the forty-eight state flags culminating the pageant. The mayor spoke with Billy Rose and the flag was quickly added.

At the New York County American Legion's annual convention, members passed a resolution "There is a huge flag which is carried up the stairway and the bottom of it positively drags on the stairway. The excuse may be offered the back of the flag is covered with a lining and the stars, instead of being in rows or eight and six are in columns of four and twelve."

Billy Rose responded he was well aware of the flag code and that the banner displayed at the Aquacade's conclusion was, in fact, not a United States flag but a representation of the country, featuring over 100 stars on a blue field. The silken banner was specifically designed to avoid any appearance of disrespect.

Johnny Weissmuller's Wedding

Newspapers reported in May that at the conclusion of Lupe Velez's divorce, Johnny Weissmuller planned to marry. Johnny denied the report and but romantic interests soon circulated through the gossip columns: Dorothy Van Hess (an old flame) and Beryl Scott.

Playing on the title of one of Weissmuller's recent movies, the World-Telegram headlined an August 21 news story: "Tarzan Takes a Real Mate." The aforementioned Beryl Scott, a west coast socialite, became Mrs. Weissmuller the previous day.

A cavalcade of five automobiles left the Aquacade that morning and stopped at Manhattan's Stork Club and picked up Miss Scotts attendants – Ethel Merman and Sherman Billingsly. The New Jersey state police escorted the entourage as it emerged from the Lincoln Tunnel to Henry Janowski's home in Garfield, NJ.

Mayor John N. Gabriel performed the ceremony before the fireplace. Before leaving the newlyweds signed the mantel piece. Twenty Aquacade performers attended. However, throughout the ceremony, local youngsters stood on the lawn, giving the Tarzan yell repeatedly.

Publicity agents refused any press photographs of the couple kissing, explaining: "Tarzan never kisses." The service was held at 1:30 so as to not interfere with Johnny's Aquacade duties.

Eleanor Holm's Wedding

From the beginning, everyone realized the miniature entrepreneur and his stellar feature were to wed. Columnist Ernie Pyle wrote: "Maybe if I were going to marry Eleanor Holm, I could think up an "Aquacade" too."

Billy Rose planned to marry Eleanor September 19, the day after his divorce from Fanny Brice supposedly would be complete. However, he had to wait until October 27 as the Los Angeles records showed that was the date of the final proceedings. Fanny never spoke to Billy throughout during the year from the initial divorce proceedings until it was finalized. He said: "She played it like a champ from start to finish."

In the meantime, orchestra leader Art Jarrett received his final divorce decree from Eleanor Holm based on his "embarrassment by publicity she planned to wed Billy Rose."

For the first time, on May 22, Eleanor missed her opening cue. The show was delayed until managers rushed to her dressing room. Eleanor was found laughing hysterically after hearing an especially funny routine on Fanny Brice's radio show, "Baby Snooks."

Fanny never quite got over her divorce from Billy Rose. When she passed the Ziegfeld Theatre in 1945 she commented: "Right up there lurks the most evil man I've ever known."