Post #656524 by mike and marie on Tue, Oct 23, 2012 6:14 PM

The next big step was to set up the 'live mermaid show' behind the bar. We set up the area by making a hole in the wall and putting down a platform that was low enough below the hole so that you couldn't see it from the bar:

Then this whole area was put 'under water' with the aid of shower curtains of just the right watery shade:

But to make it look about two fathoms down required just the right lighting. This part took a lot of tweaking to get the light to have the same watery glow as the other portholes, but we eventually saw the light:

Now legend has it that Treasure Island, Florida had originally gotten its name from a buried treasure that was somewhere off its shore ... and we read how in the early 50s the group of developers who were known as The Rat Pack of Treasure Island had pulled a stunt where they had buried a huge sea chest not far from shore and made a big deal about unearthing it ... or maybe this happened in the 1940s ... and maybe we found the old sea chest, but in any event we had to set it up so that it would be right at home in there with the mermaid:

Then the mermaid herself -- we found one at a local prop store. She was a vintage store mannequin and we outfitted her with shells, fins, and wig.

The homemade shell top:

The mermaid:

Then the hole was covered by a plexiglas porthole and mounted with the same brass nautical fixtures as the other portholes, and surrounded the edge with heavy nautical rope:

Before we turn on the lights for the show, here's the mermaid's view of the hut and bar area: