Bartlett Show in Wisconsin Dells is closing permanently
Historic business unable to survive pandemic
Every summer for nearly seven decades, water skiers, high-speed boats and stage acts performed for thousands of tourists who watched the Tommy Bartlett Show from the shores of Lake Delton.
The Bartlett shows survived a flood, fire and previous economic downturns. But the coronavirus pandemic delivered the fatal blow to the historic business that laid the groundwork for today's water parks and mega-hotels.
The Tommy Bartlett Show announced Wednesday that it would not come back in 2021 as it had hoped. After 69 years, the business would shut down.
“This is not something we wanted to do,” said Tom Diehl, president and co-owner of the Tommy Bartlett Show.
“But in business, you have to make decisions separate from emotions.”
The Tommy Bartlett Show said it is closing because of the “catastrophic loss of business.” The water-ski, sky and stage show, which brought in 90% of the business’ revenue, was canceled for 2020 because of restrictions on large gatherings during the pandemic.
The show typically runs from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day, drawing around 2,500 spectators every day.
“From May through September 6, we experienced a complete loss of revenue when we had to cancel our 2020 summer season on Lake Delton due to the pandemic,” Diehl said in the announcement.
“Each fall, we begin to plan for the next season, and with so much uncertainty surrounding the future of the pandemic and travel, we cannot undergo additional financial risk and investment to begin planning for summer 2021.
“While we are grateful that we have had almost seven decades of entertaining visitors in Wisconsin Dells, we have no choice but to close the Show.”
Roots in the early 1950s
The Tommy Bartlett Show started in 1952 as a touring water-ski exposition. It found a permanent home on the shores of Lake Delton in 1953.
Bartlett was a radio broadcaster before dedicating himself to producing and promoting the thrill show. Bartlett went on to become one of the most recognizable promoters of Wisconsin tourism, and did so into his 80s.
The Bartlett shows laid the groundwork for the Wisconsin Dells of today, which calls itself the waterpark capital of the world. The attraction changed tourism at the Dells with its location on Highway 12 in the middle of the state. Without the Tommy Bartlett Show that for many years helped draw visitors, there would be no Noah’s Ark or Kalahari Resort.
The area’s visitor’s bureau estimates the Wisconsin Dells now brings in around $1.2 billion annually in economic impact. The small city of a few thousand residents welcomes millions of tourists each year to its strip of waterparks, hotels and other attractions.
Diehl and his wife, Margaret, became co-owners with Bartlett in 1975. When Bartlett died in 1998 at age 84, the Diehls took full ownership. Diehl’s daughter planned to take over the business after her father.
A ‘staple of the community’
Throughout its history, more than 30 million visitors have watched one of its more than 18,700 shows.
“The Tommy Bartlett Show has been a staple of our community for nearly 70 years and they will be dearly missed by both residents and loyal visitors,” the Wisconsin Dells Visitor & Convention Bureau, Inc. said in a statement. “We wish them all the best.”
The tourism industry is among the hardest hit during the economic downturn resulting from the pandemic. The state launched an $8 million grant program to help Wisconsin tourism promotion and development entities hurt by the pandemic. The Wisconsin Department of Tourism said in the announcement of the program that a reduction in travel has placed the state’s “tourism promotion infrastructure in danger, even risking outright collapse in the smallest of rural communities.”
“One of my fondest moments in Wisconsin tourism was as a little girl watching the Tommy Bartlett Show, which has been a Wisconsin Dells institution for nearly seven decades,” said state Tourism Secretary-designee Sara Meaney.
“Not only has Tom Diehl helped make the Wisconsin Dells the incredible destination it is today, but his visionary leadership stretches beyond that of the Bartlett organization,” she said.
“Tom’s selfless unwavering support of the state tourism industry has helped propel leisure travel to new heights. I am thankful for the many memories the Tommy Bartlett Show created for travelers from near and far.”
Generations of performers
Michelangelo Nock began his association with the Tommy Bartlett Show in 1977 when Nock was 12.
Nock’s parents performed with the Bartlett Show. Then Nock became a performer and then Nock’s children became performers with the Bartlett show.
Nock, based in Sarasota, Florida, owns the performance group The Nerveless Nocks.
“It’s three generations and 43 summers“that his family has performed with the Bartlett Show. “That’s unheard of in the entertainment business. It’s become a lifelong friendship.”
Nock and his family and performance company began every summer in The Dells and then would take their daredevil thrill show on the road to state fairs and performances across the U.S. and the world.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Nock said of the decision to permanently shut the Bartlett show. “We’re very grateful” for having been able to perform in the show for so long, Nock added. “With Tommy Bartlett it was family.”
Bartlett and later the Diehl family brought “world-class entertainment” to Wisconsin Dells and helped make the city the destination that it has become, Nock said.
“The whole area, the whole state, is going to be sad,” Nock said.
“It was the greatest 43 years,” Nock said. “It is life-changing for us. I guess it hasn’t sunk in yet.”
Property to be sold for development
Wisconsin Dells as a whole has fared better than the Tommy Bartlett Show this summer, Diehl said.
He’s getting ready to sell the 25-acre property with 2,000 feet of lakefront that hosted the shows all these years with its dressing rooms and stages.
“I’m hoping that a nationwide entertainment company might be interested in coming to the Dells,” he said. “We are a tourism-based economy and need attractions. If that doesn’t work then we’re going to take on the work of dismantling it so it can be used for some other form of development.”
First, he plans to sell the 13 acres he bought across the lake to ensure a good backdrop for the show.
“When you have property taxes that exceed $100,000 a year, you can’t be holding on to the property without revenue for very long,” he said.
The show had 115 seasonal employees. The Tommy Bartlett Exploratory will remain open. The company’s seven year-round employees will not be affected at this time.
“Everything in the entertainment industry has a relatively short lifespan,” Diehl said.
“To think that this show has been able to go on for 69 years is unbelievable. My biggest regret is that future generations will not be able to experience what this show did. I attribute it all to Tommy Bartlett. The most important thing was clean, wholesome, family entertainment.”
Diehl, who is 75 years old, has no plans to retire.
“I hope the day I retire and my death are the same day,” he said.