Aqua Follies of 1964: Featuring Pat Suzuki, at the Green Lake Aqua Theatre, Seattle, WA, July 30-August 12, 1964

The 1964 performance, advertised in this poster, was the last presentation of the Aqua Follies held at the Green Lake Aqua Theatre in Seattle, after having been an annual tradition since their inception in 1950. This was also the only season which included the musical talents of Pat Suzuki (b. 1930), who had just returned to her home in Seattle in 1963.

Pat Suzuki, born Chiyoko Suzuki, was raised in Cressey, CA on her family’s farm. Even as a child Suzuki loved to sing, performing at the local church and at community gatherings. During WWII she was incarcerated with her family at the Merced Assembly Center and the Amache Colorado concentration camp. Following the war, she and her family were able to return to California. Suzuki attended San Jose State College where she earned a degree in art and education and spent her evenings singing at nightclubs. In 1954, Suzuki was in New York, where she successfully auditioned for a role in the traveling production of Teahouse of the August Moon and began touring with the show. The Teahouse of the August Moon tour took Suzuki to Seattle in 1955, the city which would capture her heart. Her impromptu performance at The Colony nightclub led owner Norm Bobrow (1917-2008) to offer her a permanent position, which she accepted. While headlining at The Colony, Suzuki was popular with the local audience but also gained attention from Variety which likened her to Billie Holiday (1915-1959) or Judy Garland (1922-1969), and Bing Crosby (1903-1977) who helped her get a record contract with RCA Victor. In 1958, Suzuki made a special recording of “Bow Down to Washington” the University of Washington fight song. That same year she was cast as Linda Low in the Broadway debut of Flower Drum Song, which received mostly positive reviews including special love for the quality of Suzuki’s voice. Suzuki received a Grammy nomination in 1960 for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her album Broadway ‘59. The following year she performed at the presidential inauguration of John F. Kennedy (1917-1963). Eventually Suzuki returned to Seattle in 1963, but she continued making television appearances and acting on both stage and screen. Suzuki’s work also includes activism for Asian-American civil rights. She performed in musical drama Manzanar: An American Story in 2005 and hosted the podcast Order 9066 with Sab Shimono in 2018.

The Aqua Follies were a series of ‘swimusicals’ - live, outdoor performances which included water ballet, high diving, stage dancing and comedy. The performances were held each summer at the Green Lake Aqua Theatre, a venue constructed in 1950 on Seattle’s Green Lake which featured concrete amphitheater seating and a floating stage. In addition to hosting the Aqua Follies, the Green Lake Aqua Theatre also presented performers such as Bob Hope, Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead during its lifetime. Attendance for the Aqua Follies peaked in 1962, the year Seattle hosted the World’s Fair, but rapidly declined in subsequent years. The last Aqua Follies hosted at Green Lake Aqua Theatre was in 1964. The Aqua Theatre was demolished in 1979, although a small section of seating is still present on the shores of Green Lake today.