"That's one of the things we pride ourselves on here, is that old-Florida kitschy taste."
Even with no water or audience in sight, the mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park were performing "The Little Mermaid." Their calling-card show, it takes practice — even when the underwater theater sits empty.
The mermaid playing the Sea Witch stepped to the middle of the floor in the park's ballroom. It has acted as a makeshift backstage since renovations began a couple of years ago on the Villa, where the human performers put on their costumes and do their dry practices. The mermaids were in the middle of another dry practice now, so the Sea Witch walked around on two legs with no tail.
There have been no audiences since November, when much of the park closed for renovations. By January, a footbridge just past the front gate had been knocked down for replacement, and sidewalks snaking around the park had been ripped up. Caution tape stretched around the entrance to the underwater theater. Inside, the naked legs of the theater's bench seats stood in hazy blue light from the underwater window. In total, the renovations cost just shy of $3 million, most of it going toward the theater.
Read more at the Tampa Bay Times.