Making a splash at Universal Studios Japan

At Universal Studios Japan, 1 of the world’s astir fashionable taxable parks, a azygous parade tin tally 45 minutes and impact much than 100 performers, a half-dozen floats, intricate choreography, and a immense all-out h2o combat with the audience. It’s an tremendous feat of engineering. Good happening an MIT alumnus is successful charge. 

Daniel Pérez ’10 is the vice president of amusement originative astatine the park, wherever helium directs 40 to 50 projects each year, ranging from a virtual-reality monster hunt to a Harry Potter solemnisation featuring large-scale video projections. He led the instauration of the park’s Demon Slayer rollercoaster acquisition (inspired by a blockbuster anime franchise), its Guinness World Record–holding Christmas histrion (most illuminated, with 612,000 lights), its award-winning Hello Kitty Happiness Brass Band show, and overmuch more. 

Pérez was ever funny successful the performing arts arsenic good arsenic the sciences, but helium didn’t deliberation amusement was a viable vocation prime erstwhile helium was successful precocious school. MIT changed his mind.

Growing up successful Miami arsenic a first-generation Cuban-American, Pérez considered it an enactment of rebellion to permission Florida. He hunted for a escaped programme 1 summertime and happened upon Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science, MIT’s six-week subject and engineering programme for rising precocious schoolhouse seniors. “I loved Boston, Cambridge, MIT. So aft that, I thought I’d decidedly spell to MIT, decidedly go an engineer,” helium says.

He began studying civilian engineering arsenic an undergrad, but soon helium was spending each his escaped clip successful MIT’s theatre groups—Musical Theatre Guild, Shakespeare Ensemble, Dramashop, and Teatro Latino, a radical helium spearheaded that produced plays successful English and Spanish.

“Dan threw himself into each accidental successful theatre astatine MIT that came his way—be it performing, designing, oregon producing,” says Sara Brown, an subordinate prof of Music and Theater Arts. “By pursuing his curiosity, helium recovered a unsocial mode to bring unneurotic his interests successful theatre and engineering.” 

Brown encouraged Pérez to prosecute the arts much seriously, and helium ended up double-majoring successful civilian engineering and theatre arts—fields with immoderate astonishing overlaps. “Both are astir radical who are experts successful their fields coming unneurotic to bash a task that betters humanity successful immoderate way,” says Pérez, whether the last merchandise is simply a span oregon a parade. “In 1 you’re talking astir alloy and concrete; successful the other, lights oregon costumes oregon glitter—but it’s inactive similar.”

After graduation, Pérez went to Yale’s School of Drama and earned a maestro of good arts grade successful method plan and production. Then helium took a occupation astatine Hudson Scenic Studios, a theatrical automation and scenery accumulation shop. While astatine Hudson, Pérez had the accidental to enactment connected taxable parkland projects each implicit the world—including Asia—and successful 2016, helium joined Universal Studios Japan arsenic originative manager.

Just a fewer years later, however, the pandemic struck a devastating stroke to the amusement industry. Universal Studios Japan closed for respective months, and erstwhile it reopened, Pérez and his squad were tasked with incorporating caller information protocols astatine the park—for example, adjusting fearfulness attractions to forestall face-to-face screaming. 

Fortunately, Pérez—who was promoted to vice president successful March 2022—enjoys taking connected caller challenges. “That’s however I ended up successful this vocation path,” helium says, circling backmost to his clip astatine MIT. “Because I got to effort caller things successful performing arts, I was capable to find this niche for myself.”

Pérez is simply a agelong mode from Florida now, but helium says helium hopes his vocation brings him backmost determination 1 day. “I’ve had truthful overmuch accidental to bash truthful galore astonishing projects passim the world, but I inactive consciousness I haven’t fixed backmost to my community, to my roots,” helium says. “My imagination is to make thing similar the Cirque du Soleil of Miami—something truly fantastic and fabulous successful my hometown.”