Title: Unexpected Opportunity
Characters: Tsukasa, Emu, Nene, Rui, Asahi, Keisuke (flashback), Shousuke (flashback), Workshop Organiser, Announcement
| Event Story | Episode 1 ・ Episode 2 ・ Episode 3 ・ Episode 4 ・ Episode 5 ・ Episode 6 ・ Episode 7 ・ Episode 8 |
Unexpected Opportunity
Announcement
"Welcome to Tokyo Arcland, where unique fantasies can be enjoyed by anyone!"
Tsukasa
Ohh…!!
Emu
Wow~! Our feet are all sparkly!
Rui
This must be the work of interactive projection mapping.
It uses sensors to detect the movement of visitors to project an interactive image.
Nene
Ah, you're right. The lights' shapes and colours are changing as we walk…
Emu
Amazing, so amazing! The lights get all fuzzy wuzzy after I do some hoppity hops!
Tsukasa
Hold up, where do you think you're going?! We're not here to play this time, remember?
Emu
Gasp! Oh, yeah!
Tsukasa
Good grief…
Nene
But still… We've been to so many amazing places so far, but never have I ever thought that we'd be able to come here to train.
Rui
Yeah. Arcland is one of the top theme parks in the world, rivalling Riley's Dream Park.
It's expected that they wouldn't open their gates so easily to us.
We really owe Keisuke and Shousuke our thanks here.
Tsukasa
Our fourth training venue?!
Keisuke
Yeah. It's Arcland, which you all know too.
Nene
Huh…?!
Emu
Arcland's the place where Asahi and his group are at, right?
Tsukasa
Yeah… But Arcland is famous for its top-tier shows not just here, but worldwide.
And a group like us will be training at a place like that? We did put on a joint performance together once, but still…
Shousuke
We actually tried reaching out to them a long time ago with this proposal. But this would involve getting them to let you guys learn from them only, unlike the last exchange program.
So we haven't been able to get their okay up till recently, when they contacted us.
Rui
So that's the reason. But why now…?
Keisuke
As you all know, Arcland has many young and talented actors and directors with them.
In order to develop their talents further and expand the range of their activities, Arcland began organising internal workshops for them.
Emu
Workshops…?!
Tsukasa
Are they…allowing us to attend those workshops by any chance?
Keisuke
Yes. They said that you're all welcome if it's to your convenience.
Rui
The fact that they're open only to internal members means that all of the participants will be cast members and directors from Arcland…
Which also means that the workshop activities will inevitably be set at an appropriately high standard, correct?
Shousuke
Well, yeah. But we feel that this will be a pretty good experience for all of you.
Keisuke
So, what will you all do? The decision is yours to make.
Tsukasa
-That goes without saying!
Rui
(When I rejected that offer back then… I couldn't even begin to imagine that I'd have anything to do with Arcland again like this.)
Emu
Why are you looking around so much, Nene?
Nene
Ahh… It's no big deal.
They mentioned that they'll send a guide over to pick us up, so I was thinking that they should be here soon…
???
-Ooooi!
Tsukasa
Speak of the devil, it seems like they're here!
*Footsteps*
???
Sorry to keep you all waiting! It sure has been a while!
Asahi
Welcome to Tokyo Arcland!
Tsukasa
A-………
Emu & Nene
Asahi?!
Rui
The guide that was mentioned was you, Asahi?
Asahi
Yeah! I volunteered when I heard that all of WonderShow is coming!
The rest wanted to come too…but that would just make us all stick out like a sore thumb and all.
Ah, but don't worry! We decided fair and square, of course! Using rock paper scissors!
Tsukasa
W-With rock paper scissors…
Nene
…Looks like Asahi's the same as always despite getting pulled from all sides for stage, movie, and even drama roles.
Emu
Yeah! He's like a sunny and smiley big bro!
Asahi
We're having the briefing for all the workshops today, so I'll show you all the way to the venue right away, if that's alright.
Tsukasa
Got it! Please, lead the way!
*Footsteps*
Emu
Worky-worky workshop~♪ What will we do~☆1
Asahi
Ahaha! Sounds like you're all really excited for it.
Tsukasa
Yes, very!
Rui
Will you be participating in this round of workshops too, Asahi?
Asahi
Yeah. I plan to join all the workshops my work schedule allows.
After all, this is gonna be my first opportunity in a while where I can work with all of you from WonderShow. Plus, the workshops this time have the most substantial curriculum out of all the workshops we've had so far.
Tsukasa
Meaning?
Asahi
The workshop instructors consist of actors and directors who are veterans even in Arcland-
But that's not all. We also invite special guest instructors to conduct these.
Rui
Special instructors, you say?
Asahi
Yeah! …I think you'll definitely be surprised too, Rui.
Rui
(I'll be surprised "too"…?)
*Footsteps*
Asahi
-We're here. This is the place.
First, I gotta introduce you all to everyone you're meeting for the first time here.
Hey! Guys!
Briefing Venue
Workshop Organiser
-This will be Arcland's first time taking the leap to facilitate our workshops at such a grand scale.
I'm sure that adding these workshops onto your plate in between rehearsals and work would make for a tight schedule on your end as participants.
In order to make your experience here as fulfilling as possible despite that hurdle, we will do our best as organisers to facilitate and support the workshops.
Rui
(Like Asahi said, it seems like a tremendous amount of effort is being put into this.)
(There are specialised courses for actors and directors respectively.)
(Since there are also assignments that require both sides to collaborate… That should mean that there may be opportunities for the actors to act in the shows created for the director courses.)
(Hehe! Just the thought of it is making me excited for this.)
Workshop Organiser
Now, I would like to introduce the special instructors who will be coaching you over the duration of the workshops. I will start with the instructors for the actor courses-
The following three instructors have kindly agreed to lend us their support: Natalia Santi, Glen Birkin, and Elio Sakurai.
*Loud chattering*
Tsukasa
Wha-?!
Rui
Natalia Santi, the famed actress who won several international awards for her roles in musical films.
I did hear that she has also been working on nurturing the next generation of actors lately… But I never thought that I would hear her name uttered here of all places.
Nene
Yeah… Glen Birkin is active in the industry and even stars in Broadway productions, right?
He isn't the type to play leading roles, but I heard that he gets top-tier ratings for his performance in individualistic roles…
Emu
Whoa~! Everyone's super duper amazing…!
Tsukasa
Yeah, and Elio Sakurai is a world-famous dancer.
If I'm not wrong, he also runs a dance studio that specialises in musical dance.
Nene
Huh, you're strangely familiar with him, Tsukasa.
Tsukasa
When we were doing ballet lessons at Morinomiya, I chanced upon Elio's explanation videos while searching for good videos for reference.
Apart from ballet, he also uploaded jazz and theatre dance videos… All of them were so spectacular that I'd lose track of time watching them.
Rui
Yeah. This means we have prominent players from each field assembled here.
Emu
I can't wait to meet them all~!
Rui
(The workshop gathered guest members of such calibre. This isn't something that can be achieved simply with monetary power.)
(This is definitely proof of the amount of energy Arcland invests in the stage…along with the development of the cast members who stand on it.)
Workshop Organiser
Next, I will introduce the special instructors for the director courses.
Emu
…Ah! Next up are the people who are gonna teach Rui!
Nene
This is making me kinda nervous after learning about the earlier guest lineup…
Rui
Indeed.
(I will probably never get a chance to learn in a place like this ever again.)
(I have to put this opportunity to full use.)
Notes
-
The original first half of the line is
わくわくワークショップ(waku waku workshop), wakuwaku being the onomatopoeia for feeling excited. I don’t know if there’s a way to retain alliteration in translation but I just changed it here since I can’t think of a way to do that (Return to text) -
As a side note, as of this writing I don’t know if there are multiple types of workshops held for both actors and directors (like for example, maybe there are 2 types of workshops people can opt for in the director course, while the actor course gets 3 types of workshops) in this event. They never explain if Rui was participating in multiple workshops concurrently, or whether the multiple workshops Asahi mentions was just supposed to mean sessions (so there are only 2 different courses people can opt for, and each participant joins as many sessions for the course they joined as they can). I assume that they will explain in more detail in the next wondershow event after this, since this part of the story left a bit of stuff open, especially with what Tsukasa, Emu, and Nene are up to while Rui’s out on his own. At the moment, I assumed that there are multiple workshops/tracks that participants can join for both actors and directors