Don't let COVID-19 get the better of you! "Baito Show -Final-" was held with thorough infection prevention measures

A world of art to visit, see and feel
File.31 Magcal Performing Arts Academy "Bite Show -Final-"
Miyuki Inoue (Magcal Editorial Department)

Magcal Performing Arts Academy was opened in 2014 with the aim of nurturing professionals in the performing arts. This performance, which takes place every summer, began with "Baito Show YOKOHAMA - Youth Edition" in 2016 , and has been improving with each revision, including the International Edition, BEST Edition, and Platinum Edition.

However, we are currently facing the coronavirus pandemic.
What on earth will happen this year?

Overcoming such concerns, "Baito Show - Final" was performed with all possible infection control measures in place.

We spoke with General Director Yokouchi Kensuke on the day before the opening day on Saturday, December 19th . We will introduce the details of the dress rehearsal that followed.

This year, spring has stopped right from the start.

Up until now, we've welcomed new recruits in April and held the main performance in August, but this year we were unable to hold auditions in the spring. We gathered information, took infection control measures, and somehow managed to hold auditions in September, and we received more applications than we expected. It was proof that the Academy's activities have taken root, and we were really happy. Assuming that we would be holding the main performance in December, we thought it would be ok to have amateurs, but we found some who had the ability to be immediately effective, so we hired around 18 people this year.
To be honest, I did think about quitting for a while, but I realized that for these young people, stopping for even six months was "unthinkable."

When will the academy start lessons again?

In-person lessons began in August, but in May, when restrictions were put in place to allow people to go out, we held remote lectures. We streamed a total of 10 "Theater Lectures" on topics such as Stanislavski's theory of theater, Nakamura Nakazo, known as the god of theater, and the plays of Shakespeare.

For example, what does "real" mean in theater? I have been trying to convey this idea from time to time, but I think this was a good opportunity to learn the theory behind it. This was a challenge for us as well. We were a little worried about how much we could accomplish in a remote class, but I think we were able to talk about difficult things without holding back.
I think it was a powerful lesson, as it also conveyed the message "Don't stagnate!" at a time when everyone was feeling anxious and unable to see what the future held.

I heard that everyone was wearing masks during rehearsals for this performance.

That's right. Today (the day of the dress rehearsal) was the first time that the members took off their masks. It's hard to sing and dance while wearing a mask, but facial expressions are important in acting, so this is an impossible situation. I think some of the members were surprised, saying, "They were acting with expressions like that." It was truly a challenge, and a grand experiment.
We were also careful to avoid crowding on stage. The performance time was shortened to 1 hour and 45 minutes, shorter than previous performances. The members were divided into two teams, A and B, and the dance numbers that relied on the power of numbers were reduced in number, so there was no room for deception. No one knows what "doing everything we can" means. Nevertheless, we pursued the meaning of "doing" during these times.

This is the fifth year of the "Baito Show" and it's finally coming to an end.

Magcal Performing Arts Academy was launched with the aim of creating an environment in Kanagawa Prefecture where theater can be studied. Considering that a new "Performing Arts Department" will be established at Kanagawa Prefectural Comprehensive High School in 2021, we believe that this marks the end of the school's operations.
When we started in 2014, we were all amateurs and thought, "This is impossible" (laughs). But we've managed to keep going until now. Now, some of us have graduated from music colleges and are performing on stage as professionals, so we decided to call this the "final" event, as a culmination of everything we've done so far.

"Baito Show" has been performed in a "theater within a theater" format, with seating on the stage, and with a limited audience. If there is a next step, I would like to perform a new work using Momijizaka Hall in its normal form. Momijizaka Hall is a magnificent theater with a seating capacity of over 800, so filling it to capacity is quite a challenge. However, this is our "long-cherished wish," and I would like to see what they have learned and inherited from us after achieving this.

It's unfortunate that we lost so much time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, perhaps it's precisely because of this unprecedented situation that we've been in that we've been able to discover something different from what we've experienced before. I hope that when we look back on it in the future, we'll think that 2020 wasn't a waste of time.

Finally, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to Kanagawa Prefecture and all those involved for their support and for sending us messages asking us to "take thorough precautions and go ahead with this performance if possible." Thank you very much.