Today we’d like to introduce you to Sunni Stephens.
Sunni, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In Atlanta, I was a recording artist but I always loved the stage performance. I realized that when I was performing live that it was a different type of experience for the person receiving the performance and for me as well. So, I started performing more. As I was looking for shows to be a part of, I realized that the live entertainment scene was very lopsided. For instance, I would go to a drag show and I would get bored very quickly because it was 90 minutes of only Drag. I would go to a burlesque show and would get bored really quickly because it was only Burlesque. I figured if I got bored and I’m sure everyone else got bored but if we had a hodgepodge of all of this entertainment on one stage, it would be the best of all worlds and people would constantly be entertained.
So, I dug into my network and scouted out all of the people that I wanted to perform with and/or that I admired. In addition, I dug into my network of musicians, singers, choreographers, and other key people in the entertainment industry and asked if they would help me put this amazing show together (most were not interested or didn’t understand it) so I rented a venue and took on this project myself. My approach was to create an immersive experience that felt part concert, part theater, and part dance club with a lineup that crossed all sectors of entertainment. It was a success and within two months, we moved to a residency at Center Stage.
I lived in Miami and it became taxing traveling every month to Atlanta so I figured, and it was always in the plan, to eventually transition the show down here. I was taking dance lessons from Jennifer Solano, owner of IDance Miami, and we were talking one day. She encouraged me to just go for it. So, with her support and push, I decided to Miami in December 2018. I went to every venue to pitch the show and they turned me down. I had no investor or big name tied to the show, so they thought it was too risky. 2 FT jobs and a few thousand dollars later, Clubesque premiered its new show, Cocktails & Cabaret at the Fillmore theater Art Basel weekend.
I made a pact with Jennifer that if the audience felt the magic, I was trying to bring, I would commit to at least 12 months of shows to build the brand in the South Florida market. To my surprise, our audience was overwhelmingly engaged in every moment of the show. They praised us for bringing something different and unique to the market. I immediately booked out the next six months and relied on word of mouth and self-promotion for the next few months. Every show garnered more praise and more people. No two shows are alike, so that helped up to lock in our local market. It has been a slow and steady climb since.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The path to success is never paved nor straight. Building a show from scratch has been no different. Failure and rejection have met me at every turn. I received no’s from just about every venue I pitched the show to in Miami. I didn’t know what to do as I knew what Miami needed but didn’t have the funds to make it a reality. So, I do what I was raised to do… work. I have 2.5 jobs and use that money to invest in the show. I went through many dancers trying to find the right blend of beauty, talent, and performance ability. We have dealt with injuries with the dance team. The death of my aunt 30 minutes before my January performance, the monthly debt the show accumulates, car accidents with my principal dancer, and a sudden move out of state with my co-star. Being a performer and a producer, I can’t say that there was a magic remedy for any of the above mentioned. You just focus on the most important reason why you even do it, to begin with… the audience. They have been the drivers and the reason why we push through and past the struggles and setbacks. To see the joy on their faces after every show and the high praise on how the show touched them or made them detach from their stressful lives is how I stay focused and encouraged.
Please tell us about Clubesque.
Well, first of all, the overarching theme of the show is a little song a little dance a lot of fun. But when I first started talking about Clubesque, which is the biggest production that I have… I would say that it’s a celebration of the three dimensions of a woman… her personality, her beauty, and her soul. So, for a newbie to the Burlesque scene, it is beauty set to movement and music that is both fun, sensuous, and transcending. My show; although we feature burlesque queens, is a cabaret. Which is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, or drama. In cocktails and cabaret, we hit on all of that. So, we have live singing. We have showgirls and dancers. We have Burlesque performances by crowned burlesque queens from around the world. We have drag performances from drag queens around the world. This is all set to the soundtrack of our lives. We start out with your Broadway style and golden age standards (remixed) and then we transition to the disco era Stop in Latin America to pay tribute and homage to the Latin Greats and we end with a modern day celebration Carnavale
I always say to my audience that if they left feeling better then when they arrived, then we have done our job. Our main goal or objective when you walk into our theater is for you to be able to unwind and release whatever you may be holding onto and on the other side of that, we want to enhance what you may be celebrating. One of our missions at Clubesque is to make sure that we always perform to you and not for you this will ensure that you are brought into our experience… you are not a spectator but a participant in this experience. It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s everything entertainment and no rules! Expect to have just some good old fashion fun… in the words of James Brown, we’re gonna have a funky good time!
What’s your outlook for the industry in our city?
Back in the late 50s and early 60s, Miami was the Premier destination for everyone. It was the number one tourist site in the world. And at that time believe it or not Burlesque was huge in this scene. Many of the top burlesque performers in the world that was on film and television would come down to Miami and do residencies along with the rat pack, Marilyn Monroe, and of course, Jackie Gleason.
So with the resurgence of the art deco scene, there is a light being shone on the cultural aspect of Miami and just that it’s more than a spring vacation spot or an EDM scene… and the fact that there is a renewed interest in the world of Burlesque, it was very important for me to make sure that I contributed to the new cultural Miami. It was important to me that I brought my version of cabaret to the burlesque scene down here it was important to me that I made sure that Miami knew that Burlesque is a top-notch, world-renowned, glamorous Premier art form that we all should know and love. We have Burlesque legends living in Florida right now with accolades all around the world and are not known in Miami… and that’s just not right… I am 100% convinced that there is an untapped scene down here and people want choices they want different outlets and they want quality entertainment
Pricing:
- General Admission tickets are 35$ per person
- Premiere tickets begin at 55$ which includes a reserved spot at our cabaret tables
- VIP tickets are 100$ per person and include a special complimentary cocktail and the best seats in the house
Contact Info:
- Website: clubesque.com
- Phone: 305-458-4384
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Clubesque
- Facebook: Clubesque
- Twitter: Clubesque
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