Wise Buddah and Mothership Management have announced plans to launch a brand new online online radio station, Stage Door, for fans of musical theatre. An Indiegogo campaign has been launched today (19th June) to help make Stage Door a reality. Some of the biggest West End stars have already agreed to present programmes which, as well as playing musical theatre songs, would broadcast the latest news, backstage gossip and interviews.
Louise Bowden (Singin’ In The Rain), Louise Dearman (Wicked), Kerry Ellis (Wicked), Mark Evans (The Book of Mormon), Hadley Fraser (Les Misérables), Alex Gaumond (Top Hat), Ramin Karimloo (The Phantom of the Opera) and Oliver Tompsett (We Will Rock You) have already signed up to host a show on Stage Door when it launches.
Louise Dearman, who is currently starring as Elphaba in Wicked, said "I was really excited about the prospect of Stage Door when first told of it - millions of people love musical theatre so it's strange there isn't an established station catering for them! I'm really looking forward to hosting my own show on the station and giving people an insight into the life of a West End performer - and of course playing my favourite songs from the shows!"
Stage Door stemmed from a conversation between Wise Buddah’s Head of Content Simon Willis and Mothership Management founder Rebecca Sichel-Coates. Although almost 14 million people saw a show in the West End last year, the team behind Stage Door believes musical theatre is still an under-represented genre on radio. The aim of Stage Door is to bring fans closer to the action – to build a direct link with the stars that bring their favourite roles to life.
The station will initially be available to listen to online for musical theatre fans in the UK and US via computers, tablets or smartphones. The Stage Door Indiegogo campaign has a host of incredible pledge incentives, from private singing lessons with a star of the stage to VIP tickets to West End shows to the opportunity to produce or present a segment of a Stage Door show.
The target has been set at £145,000 which will fund the station for the first year, with plans to expand into the rest of the world after that. Financing Stage Door through Indiegogo enables fans to have a voice in deciding what content they want to hear, as well as building an audience in the lead up to launch. Favours have been called in and contacts pooled to bring the best content to the widest audience, and with a group of investors made up of fans rather than financiers, Stage Door will be about content rather than profit.
The Indiegogo campaign will run for 60 days from Wednesday 19th June, with pledges updated regularly. Visit the campaign page by clicking here.
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