Guam’s newest attraction is called Karera, and it’s costing millions to bring to the stage of the SandCastle.
Mark S. Baldyga, president and CEO of the Baldyga Group, and everyone involved in preparation for the grand opening of Karera on May 26 is in high gear.
While construction that is completely reinventing the interior of the SandCastle continues, Baldyga told the Journal that rehearsals are taking place in nine different locations on property.
The SandCastle has been gutted and all interior infrastructure and fixtures are being replaced. “It’s a new building,” he said.
The interior will feature stadium seating for 500 seats throughout and the stage opening has been completely reinvented, extending to a height of 50 feet over the audience and seventy feet over the stage.
The stage design includes an apron that thrusts into the orchestra level and two runways traverse the stadium seating.
A 40 foot-high, 85-foot-wide screen will be featured. “It’s as large as IMAX,” Baldyga said, and the screen is designed to be part of an equally compelling experience. “The show is immersive. I wanted the show to be immersive and happening all around you.” Karera will offer soundaround also. “Like any good show, there’s a lot going on,” Baldyga said. “It’s really intimate, and yet it’s got scale and spectacle.”
A basement has been excavated under the floor of the SandCastle, which allows for a trapdoor feature to the stage.
Bringing in the performers and support for Karera — which means voyager in CHamoru —has been a planning exercise in itself. Baldyga Group organized multiple U.S. visas, with P1 entertainer visas for the performers and P1S support visas for the support team.
The show will feature nine lead performers, three aerialists, a comic, three lead dancers, a drummer, a singer, and a fire dancer among the cast of 47, which includes seven Samoans, nine international performers, some cast members from Saipan, with the rest from Guam. While he had hoped to hire more performers locally, Baldyga said he intends to launch a non-profit dance academy to train local dancers.
The off-island group is being housed at various locations. The creative team and the technical team have other commitments after the show opens, Baldyga said. “They’re all leaving on 27th [of May].” The composers and arrangers are Guy Dubuc and Marc Lessard (known by the creative alias Bob & Bill) who also act as composers for Cirque du Soleil. The acrobatic equipment designer is from Florida. The show’s rigger technician — who deals with hanging or rigging equipment high above the audience and stage, and safety is from Canada and has a background in aerial acrobatics.
Mark Baldyga, backstage with a proa to be featured in the show. Photo by Maureen N. Maratita
Seating will be designed by class, with lower and upper VIP seating as a theater does.
Baldyga said that will offer attendees seating closer to the stage or a higher view “depending on the experience you want.” The seven categories of seating will sell in increments from $125 through to $400. “We’re just trying to price it fairly for the product,” he said.
The grand hall at the entrance to the SandCastle will remain. “I think it’s beautiful,” Baldyga said.
From onstage, Mark Baldyga points to the ceiling installations at the SandCastle on April 20. Photo by Maureen N. MaratitaThe cost of Baldyga’s investment he said could top $20 million. It includes a $10 million loan from the Bank of Guam, he said. Grant monies that he received during the pandemic have allowed the Baldyga group to survive and prepare for Karera and he counts that funding in the $20 million. “We re-invested all of it into the business. Luckily, SandCastle was basically debt-free,” he said.
He estimates that the Baldyga Group lost about $16 million due to COVID-19, and said the pandemic affected everybody. “This is our transformative life experience.” As for his aims for the show, he acknowledged that his instincts have not let him down in the past. “All I can do is my best, right at this moment in time.”
Baldyga said it was difficult not to let the huge renovation be affected by the amount of work the construction industry is dealing with. “It was extremely challenging,” he said. Smithbridge Guam is one of the lead contractors, but the Baldyga group has also worked with other businesses. Electrical work at the SandCastle has been extensive, for example. “We had to use multiple small contractors.”
The upcoming show will be island themed, to reflect island culture and Guam, and will reflect his island home, Baldyga said. As for tourist visitors, Baldyga said that Guam is receiving below 1% of outbound travel from Guam’s tourist markets. “We’re not capturing our fair share.”
Guam’s lack of competitive attractions has been discussed and was discussed at length at the tourism forum hosted by the Guam Travel & Tourism Association and the Guam Hotel & Restaurant Association in October.
Baldyga said no new attractions are in place. “This is the largest island-themed show in the world — nothing touches it,” he said. He likened Karera’s appeal to Pixar Animation Studio’s products, which appeal to adults and children. “More than 50% of our arrivals are families with children,” he said. “It’s Disneyesque,” he said of the show.
A change in taste has also influenced changes to the SandCastle’s entertainment, he said.
Karera will offer one show a night, five nights a week. While Baldyga Group could increase the number of nights per week, in the near future, he said, “We don’t expect that.”
The SandCastle could also be used as a conference facility, he said. “It’s next to 2,000 hotel rooms within a five-minute walk.” mbj
