Audience seats rotate 360 degrees!? Magcal Performing Arts Academy main performance “Bite Show YOKOHAMA - Youth Edition -” report

A musical about young people who spend all their time working part-time jobs and taking lessons.
The audience was surprised by the unique production with seats set up on the stage!

Magcal Performing Arts Academy, which opened in October 2014, is a musical star training institution that gathers over 20 young people from high school students to 25 years old. Kensuke Yokouchi, who presides over the Tobiza theater company, serves as the principal and acting instructor, Keiko Fukazawa is the singing instructor, and Lucky Ikeda and Eri Saiki are the dance instructors, giving practical lessons on singing, dancing, and acting.
 
In April 2016, we performed ``Bite Show <Magcal Academy 2016 Edition>'' as a result presentation. An arrangement of the musical performed by Tobiza Theater Company in 2013, in which 14 students passionately performed the roles of young people working part-time jobs. The first performance they will take on is ``Bite Show YOKOHAMA -Seishun Hen-''. A new cast and new episodes have been added to ``Magical Academy 2016 Edition,'' which depicts a more multilayered human story.

``Bite Show'' is a group drama about young people who are passionate about dance and theater, but spend their days working part-time jobs to make ends meet. An aspiring dancer who moves from part-time job to another, a girl who is torn between love and dreams, a member of a theater company who has passion but no money, a girl who dreams of becoming an idol, a girl on the brink of being caught by a corrupt agency, and so on. We will use an omnibus format to depict his struggle with this.
 
When the performance was announced, the first thing that struck me was the stage equipment. When the curtain goes up, the audience seats in the hall appear in front of you! Yes, the audience was not sitting in the audience seats, but in special seats set up above the stage. Meanwhile, the cast members turned their gazes of envy onto the stage from the audience seats and enthusiastically chanted, ``I want to stand on this stage someday.'' From the beginning, it captured the hearts of the audience.

What's more, the audience seats rotate 360 degrees each time the scene changes, taking advantage of the "round stage" mechanism in which the center of the stage rotates! They excited the audience with their unique productions, including making the steel staircase used to install lighting look like a construction site and using an ``auction stage.'' The surprising mechanism of ``rotating the audience'' is said to be the first attempt in the 54-year history of the Kanagawa Prefectural Youth Center Hall.
 
The audience was moved by the up-close singing and dancing, and the sight of young people pursuing their dreams despite working part-time jobs. I watched in fascination, my cheeks burning with the heat that was gushing out of me. From the ``Magcal Academy 2016 version'' at the results presentation, the singing voice has been further refined and the expressiveness of the dance has become richer. It was a two-hour period where I felt a certain amount of growth. All three days of performances were sold out. They are also considering performing original works in the future, so please look forward to the future of Magcal Performing Arts Academy.
 

Now recruiting additional students for 2016!
Interview with three main cast members

Left: Mikako Yoshida Center: Moeto Kato Right: Yumi Kitamura

Magcal Performing Arts Academy has continued to make steady progress since the results presentation in April. After the performance, we received comments from the three main cast members.
 

Moecho Kato/Ai
At the results presentation, the rehearsal period was two to three weeks, but this time we practiced for a full month. After all, if the performance is at the same level as the results presentation, the audience will not be satisfied. In order to aim for a higher level, I increased the amount of practice and advice I received, and I worked hard every day to absorb as much as possible.
 
However, we are still inexperienced, and this performance is just a passing point. I once again realized that there is still a long way to go. For example, in my case, the voice that says the lines and the voice that sings are different. If your voice changes, it will be difficult to convey to the audience, so you have to be able to sing as part of the play, using your voice as you are acting. For that reason, I think I have to practice more and more.
 
The number of students at the academy has increased further with the arrival of new students in 2016. Everyone inspires me, and I don't think I can afford to lose. It's really a blessing to have a place like this. I have been under the guidance of Kensuke Yokouchi for about 7 years before joining this academy, and I still respect him as much as ever. I feel so blessed to have such a great person watching me perform. If you are interested, we would like you to join the academy. Let's create the best musical together!

Mikako Yoshida/Yumi
I played the same role at the results presentation, but this time I had a lot more lines and dance. In particular, my role had a romantic element, so it was difficult to express it. But it was also very rewarding. During rehearsals, I enjoyed communicating with everyone and absorbing new things.
 
Compared to before, I have become a little more vocal, but there are still issues to be solved. At every performance, I had some bad performances, and I got nervous, and I realized how naive I was. I want to be able to do more plays.
 
I think that with the addition of new people to the Academy, the passion and power of each individual person has spread throughout the venue. You can have wonderful experiences that you can't get at school or work, so if you're interested, please come and visit us.

Yumi Kitamura / Kazue
This was my first time participating in Magcal Performing Arts Academy. It was the first time that the stage rotated, and everything was beyond my imagination. Even I, who is appearing in the show, was surprised (lol).
 
It was also a lot of fun to practice together with everyone at the academy. There are a lot of high school students at the academy, so I'm the oldest at 24 years old. I thought to myself, "They're all so young!" as I was receiving instruction together. There were many things that inspired me.
 
I want to continue to be on stage forever.

Singing and dancing are fields where the results of practice are visible. This performance was a performance that overflowed with the enthusiasm of the cast and their dedication to the stage, and I could feel that they had grown since the performance presentation. Please look forward to the Academy's original works planned for next year and the future of the Academy.