initially told we ’ d have to close the show for a week , so Akiko and I went to our condo in Tokyo to relax after a hectic four month of production , while members of our team went back to their homes in Manila , Macow , Taiwan and Thailand . Al the Only along with Fabio and 12 other members of my team chose to remain in Sanya , China , planning to wait a week before continuing with the shows .” he recalls . “ Then , on day three , COVID exploded . Suddenly , we realized we had to get everyone out of China — fast . Now , my wife runs the company . I ’ m the product and the sales force , but she handles the operations . From our place in Tokyo , she had to coordinate the evacuation , racing against the clock as flights were getting canceled in real-time . It became less about where we could send people and more about just getting them anywhere outside of China .”

Fabio , needed to get back to Rio , but there were no flights heading there . The best we could do was get him to Vietnam and tell him , “ From there , we ’ ll figure it out .” We were scrambling — it felt like the evacuation of the American embassy during the fall of Saigon .

Photos showing the show tent .

In the end , we managed to get everyone out safely . The entire stage setup was left behind , like a frozen time capsule . Well , except for Al . He stayed an extra day because he ’ d never played golf in China . I told him , “ Al , you ’ ve got to be freaking crazy .” But he stayed , played his round of golf , and somehow made it back to Hawaii — just by the skin of his teeth .”