Posted: May. 21, 2009

Lake Delton - Angelina Nock has spent every summer of her 17 years at the Tommy Bartlett Show.

Now a water-skier herself - and the top of the three-tier pyramid - she remembers running down to the lake and jumping in each spring when her family returned from their Florida home to perform as the "Nerveless Nocks."

"They would always say, 'What's your rush? The lake will always be there,' " Nock said with a rueful smile Thursday afternoon. "Whoever would have believed a lake could disappear?"

Nock and the rest of the Tommy Bartlett Show skiers are wet again and scheduled to open the season at 8:30 Friday night. When Lake Delton vanished June 9, the livelihoods of two dozen professional water-skiers flushed away with the gushing water.

The 90-minute performance continued, with performers on land, including a juggler and sound effects wizard, but everyone sitting in the amphitheater couldn't help but notice the moonscape-like view behind the stage and the two ski ramps emblazoned with "Greatest Show on H2O!" sitting on sand bars.

Attendance plunged; the show lost $2.5 million.

"The people who didn't come last year, it wasn't because we didn't put on a high-quality show, it's that it wasn't the show they wanted to see," said Tom Diehl, general manager and co-owner.

Marketing this year focuses on the lake's rejuvenation. Every entrance into the Dells features at least one "We're back" sign. The Bartlett show souvenir program sports four pages devoted to last year's catastrophe, and a photo montage of the water / no-water cycle of the lake will be displayed at the amphitheater.

On the anniversary of the breach, both Tommy Bartlett shows at 4:30 and 8:30 p.m. will be free.

Last fall and winter, crews finished filling in the breach and repairing the portion of Highway A that was swept away along with several homes. This spring, the lake was allowed to fill up. It looks like it did pre-breach.

Joey Lincicum, who drives "Tow 1," a Malibu speedboat with a 375-horsepower engine, noticed a difference though. The lake smells better.

"Eighty-three years of duck poop are gone," said Lincicum, who has been a boat driver at the show since 1981.

Kristin Armstrong and her husband, Jeremy, have performed at Tommy Bartlett's since 2004. They vividly recall last year - hurriedly trying to move boats out of the water, then seeing the water quickly recede until only sand was left.

The first day of practice this year "there were hugs and smiles. Everyone was so happy to be back," Kristin Armstrong said.

On Thursday afternoon, the skiers practiced routines - flipping off the boat ramps, somersaulting with a splash, performing ballet moves while hooked arm-in-arm. As the performers skied to shore and ran up a ramp in front of the seats, they waved to what they hope will be big crowds.

Jeremy Armstrong, water ski show director, drove a boat, skied on the bottom rung of the three-tier pyramid and performed a barefoot ski routine. He also worried.

"Big butterflies. Lots of stress. I want to see it all come together with a beautiful show," he said.

Angelina Nock is looking forward to when she and nine other skiers power past the crowd as the spotlight shines down on the pyramid.

"Nope, I'm not nervous. I'm excited," she said.