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\tBy LAURA CARROLL
\n\tLAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
\n\tThe year was 1985.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cSplash,\u201d a new show by Jeff Kutash, was hitting the Strip, bringing a mix of street dance and classical moves to the Las Vegas entertainment scene.<\/p>\n
\tPart of the excitement about the show centered around a new concept at the time \u2014 dancing waters that moved in sync with the performers\u2019 choreography. At the time businessman Mark Fuller had no way of knowing his water creation would launch a long-standing business relationship with the Las Vegas resort community.<\/p>\n
\tAfter creating the water features for \u201cSplash,\u201d Fuller\u2019s L.A.-based company, Wet, took off. In Las Vegas, it landed contracts with the Stardust Hotel, Embassy Suites, CityCenter and the Bellagio Conservatory. It\u2019s also responsible for the Bellagio Fountains, which really propelled Wet into the limelight: The company has a project backlog and is booked for a few years.<\/p>\n
\tA former Disney employee, Fuller co-founded Wet in 1983, just two years before \u201cSplash\u201d hit the Strip. The company focuses on water feature design and technology and holds more than 50 patents in the field. After creating the Bellagio Fountains in 1998, Wet went on to create hundreds of water and fire features in locations across the globe, including the Dubai Fountains in 2008.<\/p>\n
\tAll design and creation is completed in Los Angeles, and the company maintains an operations and maintenance office in Dubai and China. Wet employs 220 people, with more to come.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe\u2019re hiring rather aggressively right now,\u201d Fuller said.<\/p>\n
\tThe reason? The company has a project backlog and is booked out for a few years. At any given time, Wet is working on about 12 projects of varying scale. A mix of graphic designers, illustrators, optical engineers, chemists, special effects people, landscape designers and textile designers work in Wet\u2019s Los Angeles offices.<\/p>\n
\tIt wasn\u2019t always that way. Over the years, feelings about water features have changed. When the company was founded it was relatively rare for a project to have a water feature, Fuller said. Now the opposite is true: It\u2019s a rarity to find a development without a water feature.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWithout trying to sound boastful, I give Wet credit for that,\u201d Fuller said.<\/p>\n
\tWet\u2019s first Las Vegas creation for \u201cSplash\u201d consisted of laminar streams \u2014 water curves that look like arches you can walk under. The performers would dance in, around and through the streams, making it look seamless between what the dancers were doing and what the water was doing.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt was interesting for us,\u201d Fuller said. \u201cWe had come out of Disney and everything out of Disney was automated. Here we had to synchronize with a cast of people and throw to the wind the automation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tOffstage, technicians worked complex machinery to make the water work in sync with the music and performers.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe get such pleasure out of what we do. The substance of what we use, water; you show me a kid who doesn\u2019t like to play in the water,\u201d Fuller said.<\/p>\n
\tLater on, Fuller was introduced to Steve Wynn through Wynn\u2019s landscape architect. Wynn asked him for ideas and Fuller ended up revamping The Mirage\u2019s volcano\u2019s water feature, making the water look thicker, glowing and viscous \u2014 much like lava.<\/p>\n
\tThen Wet was given the chance to create something special for Bellagio.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhen Mr. Wynn described his vision, and no one can describe an idea like Steve does, he said he wants people to feel like they\u2019re in a different world,\u201d Fuller said. \u201cThat set a wonderfully high, challenging bar for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe collaborative effort paid off: The Bellagio fountains were born, a creation that\u2019s now recognized around the world.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cVisitors from around the world come to experience the magic that takes place in front of Bellagio every day. Perhaps that\u2019s why Trip Advisor named the fountains the number one travel landmark in the United States this year,\u201d said Jenn Michaels, senior vice president of public relations for MGM Resorts International.<\/p>\n
\tThe fountains originally were conceptualized with colored lights, not the white they\u2019ve become famous for. White, though, was decided on after some early deliberation. Fuller said the white is a metaphor for an \u201cunbelievable chandelier.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThe team at Wet takes a simple object \u2014 water \u2014 and creates moments that are incredibly special and significant,\u201d said Michaels.<\/p>\n
\tAs for Wet\u2019s future with Las Vegas, Fuller said he couldn\u2019t disclose too much, but \u201cwe\u2019re always looking to the future and what we can bring to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tSince creating Bellagio\u2019s focal point, Wet has created all of the water features for CityCenter: Lumia, Halo, Glacia, Latisse and Focus, one of the largest water walls on Earth.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAt CityCenter, Wet took a very different approach. The water features there are much more subtle, but no less special,\u201d Michaels said. \u201cVisitors stop to enjoy these interesting moments where Wet has played with water and how it flows, how it interacts with color, what happens when you turn it into ice and more. Each one is unique and special in its own way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tFuller added: \u201cPeople love that because it gives you a feeling of a sublime combination of nature but clearly expresses the hand of man.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tOutside of the city, Wet\u2019s working on a number of projects, including one in the Russian Meadows Plaza in preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt is some pretty neat stuff,\u201d Fuller said.<\/p>\n
\tContact reporter Laura Carroll at lcarroll@reviewjournal.com<\/a> or 702-380-4588. Follow @lscvegas on Twitter.<\/p>\n