In May 2002, I wrote the following:

In the "I'll Believe It When I See It" category, a developer/producer is reportedly buying up land behind Paris and Bally's to build a $35 million theater to house a new water-themed show called "Aquaria." The only reason this is especially notable now is because famed swimmer Esther Williams has signed on board to design costumes and co-produce the whole thing. The show will apparently feature some sort of story about a Greek goddess, swimming, snowboarding, and ice-skating.

Because of course there was a lot of snowboarding going on in ancient Greece.

Well, it looks like I'll be able to believe it within the next two years as Bally's has announced a deal to move forward with the water-themed spectacle.

A seven-story, 2,000-seat theater will be constructed behind Bally's for "Aquaria," which will showcase a retelling of the Greek myth of Persephone. The centerpiece of the new performance venue will be a giant water tank acting as a stage of sorts for the production. The theater will be built adjacent to the new monorail station and existing pool area, the latter of which will most likely be incorporated into the design of the new building.

Esther Williams is still reportedly on board as co-producer and spokesperson, but she won't actually perform in the show.

Extreme sports will play an undefined role in "Aquaria," as will gymnasts and fairies from "Faeries" illustrator Brian Froud and "Lion King" puppeteer Michael Curry.

"Aquaria" will compete for the water spectacle crown with current champ "O" across the street and the upcoming water-based extravaganza from Franco Dragone being developed for Wynn Las Vegas in 2005. And, of course, there's "Splash" but in that the water is frozen, so I'm not sure if that counts.

If everything goes as planned you'll be able to see "Aquaria" by summer of 2005.

In case you were wondering: The myth of Persephone goes something like this ... Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, goddess of the fertility of the earth. After Persephone was kidnapped and taken to the underworld by Hades, her mother Demeter took human form on Earth and, apparently bummed out over the loss of her daughter, brought a plague and famine to the land so no crops could grow. Zeus got annoyed, realizing that if Demeter killed everyone with her famine they wouldn't be able to give the gods offerings, so he struck a deal with Hades to have Persephone returned. The famine ended and all was right with the world. However, Hades, ever the imp, slipped Persephone a pomegranate and, apparently, that means she has to spend three months of every year with Hades. During those three months, Demeter is sad and shuts down the Earth's ability to grow crops ... hence, winter.

You wanted to know that, didn't you?

This Week's Trivia

Q: When the hotel now known as Bally's opened in 1973 it had a different name. What was it? ANSWER

The Weekly Trivia Question is sponsored by the Online Memorabilia Museum at Vegas4Visitors.com

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Rick Garman is the head writer for Vegas4Visitors

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