Saturday night is about to get Stonewalled alive!
Put aside your colouring pencils and 5000 piece jigsaw puzzle this Saturday night; you鈥檙e going to be entertained beyond your wildest streams.
Stonewall Live is an online variety show concept that will bring glitz, music, fun, and awe straight into your living room every week starting this Saturday March 28 at 8pm.
Presented by The Stonewall Hotel, Create & Cast, and Undefine Media, Stonewall Live is the brainchild or director/producer, Mike Worsley.
Hosted by drag diva, Minnie Cooper, the one hour (or so) show will feature celebrity guests, informative segments, surprises, thrills and glamour. The line-up for the premiere show includes: Justin Hill doing 鈥淚solebrity Watch鈥�; Tanya Hennessy; Charlotte Crosby; Bright Light Bright Light; a video starring Hans The German; and a resplendent Rhonda Burchmore, who, we are promised, will be reclined on a lounge wearing a ball gown. All the anti-virus rules will be observed.
鈥淥n the stage鈥e鈥檙e going to have social distancing sticks so Minnie [Cooper] can poke people to make sure that they鈥檙e constantly metres away from her,鈥� assures Worsley.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got our resident cleaner – Pam Demic. So Pam is going to be constantly cleaning in the background and sanitising.鈥�
The show will also feature community content that people are making at home.
鈥淭here鈥檚 this one particular guy who鈥檚 doing a My Corona Kitchen and there鈥檚 really funny videos of him cooking a really shitty meal at home鈥�.his name鈥檚 Bryce and he鈥檚 from Melbourne,鈥� says Worsley.
In partnership with Queerscreen, Steve Milne will review a film each week.
There will also be a Community Spotlight segment where they honour a community hero. Gay Sydney counsellor, Chris Patel will be the first hero featured. He鈥檒l discuss matters around mental health in the current climate.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really important that we address that,鈥� says Worsley. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be donating to a mental health charity that specifically targets queer people.鈥�
Iconic DJ Sveta will provide the musical backdrop and Amazing Racers, Tim and Rod and Apollo will also guest star.
Worsley has an impressive resume, having worked on live comedy shows in England, and shows such as The Voice, Australia鈥檚 Got Talent, and All Together Now (to name just a few) in Australia.
He set up Create and Cast about 18 months ago and was doing okay until a micro-organism multiplied across the globe and changed everything.
鈥淢y company and my team came crashing down because every single client cancelled. So, as freelancers, we鈥檙e all out of work,鈥� says Worsley.
But that wasn鈥檛 about to stop him. He recognised the potential in live-streaming and the opportunities for delivering broad spectrum entertainment for a relatively small cost and the ability to monetise.
More importantly, he knew there were a lot of professional artists sitting idle and a lot of people in the community who were isolated.
鈥淩ight now, the big thing is – all the bars and clubs are closed. There are so many people that are remote, that [normally would] go out to the venues to sit there and have a beer and just be connected to the community,鈥� says Worsley.
鈥淓ven during World War I and World War II, there was still entertainment.鈥�
Worsley wanted to provide a show that could financially benefit performer while being affordable for low-income earners.
Many of the streaming services use a pay-per-view model – a pay wall with a fixed fee for access.
Worsley is varying that model and using 鈥渄onate-per-view鈥�, where people can pay whatever they can afford.
Proceeds will be distributed equally among cast and crew, with 10% each week going to a charity nominated by one of the celebrity guests.
The live show begins at 8pm, but people can enter the stream at any time and pick up the live action or scroll to the beginning. A recorded version will be available to watch on demand after completion of the live show.
For more info and to join the virtual audience for the first show, go to Stonewall.live
