'Believe' debuts at SeaWorld

[Stu]

Seaworld Theme park has a lot riding on new show at Shamu Stadium.

SeaWorld's Shamu show is getting personal.



Believe, the new killer whale show, publicly debuts today after four years of planning and development. In a summer of high gas prices and lower tourism expectations, Believe carries much of SeaWorld's hope for a solid summer.

The new show delivers a stadium full of new effects and orchestral music to dramatize what one reviewer has called "a killer whale ballet." But the biggest difference from old Shamu shows may be that Believe is as much about the trainers as the whales.

The 30-minute show mixes a tale about a young boy who dreams of killer whales, with the real, first-person stories told by SeaWorld's trainers.

To do so, the trainers increase their roles in the show, adding higher jumps, deeper plunges, longer swims and acrobatic diving. Then they climb out and tell the crowd their personal stories -- giving what they call their testimonies.

Even in the water, they're out of their normal elements. They came to SeaWorld to be animal trainers or curators, and now they're actors, acrobats, dancers and storytellers; they're entertainers.

"This show is definitely taking us out of our comfort zone," said Laura Surovik, SeaWorld Orlando's assistant curator. "We're not just athletes; we're expected to be that. But now we're expected to carry the art of the show to a new level."

She goes from diving with the whales to telling her life-changing story, about a 1997 visit to Alaska, when she watched in shock and awe as two killer whales hunted, killed and devoured seals.

"We're not kidding when we say they are killer whales. I don't think you can be over-dramatic, because they are the top predator. It is extremely dangerous," Surovik said. "For us to showcase that aspect really shows the dignity of the whale. Really it is miraculous, that a human being that is anywhere from 100 to 200 pounds can come together with a 5,000- to 6,000-pound killer whale."

With some economic forecasts warning of a cooler Florida tourism summer, Joseph Courceiro, vice president of marketing for Busch Entertainment's Florida adventure parks, said Believe's success is "very important" to SeaWorld's success.

SeaWorld officials won't say how much the show itself cost. But just improvements to Shamu Stadium, including four 20-foot-high LED screens and a high-tech sound system, topped $10 million.

Though similar shows are opening in the San Antonio and San Diego SeaWorlds, Orlando's greater role as a worldwide destination means Believe has to be impressive on a worldwide scale, Courceiro said. Visitors must leave thinking they've experienced something they could find nowhere else, he said.

Believe is SeaWorld's second major animal show overhaul. Last summer SeaWorld reworked the dolphin show as a colorful, flamboyant production called Blue Horizons.

"What we started with Blue Horizons, Believe has to be an exclamation point," Courceiro said.

Believe trainers will rotate roles. The lead now is played most often by Sam Davis, SeaWorld's supervisor of animal training.

"When people see the show, what they see is real. They [the show's producers] actually came to us and said, 'Write your testimony. What is the show? What is your story?' They didn't script it for us," Davis said. "When people come to the show, and a trainer such as Laura reaches out and gives her testimony, or I do, it's our real story."

He said the show's not about showcasing killer whale behaviors anymore, but an effort to inspire the audience.

"The message is, using the environment of the Shamu show, to show what is possible in their lives," Davis said. "On so many levels, you [as a trainer] really have to find a real emotional chord in yourself."

It's also physical.

Believe has Davis launching off a whale's snout into a somersault, diving from a high board, swimming constantly, and holding his breath under water for long stretches. Several times, he dives to the 36-foot-deep bottom.

"This is the most physically demanding show I've ever done," he said. "The lead part in this show, I go out and do about 30 intricate technical behaviors, and five of them are the most difficult behaviors we do. . . . That takes a toll."

Scott Powers can be reached at 407-420-5441or

[Gaz]

many thanks for the info STU cannot wait to see it we love sea world