There’s a smorgasbord of rooms to choose from on the app’s “homepage” - referred to as the “hallway” - and they run the gamut from the serious and thoughtful to the ridiculous and fun. Once in a room, a user can tap a hand-waving icon, which signals to the moderator that they have something to say, at which point the moderator can either accept or deny the action so they can speak. Users can check out any of the rooms, which are separated into two factions: the audience and the moderators (or speakers). Happy New Year!” The viral success of the chatter on Twitter was a telling indicator of Clubhouse’s burgeoning influence as a social media platform. 27 and 28.Įven if you weren’t on Clubhouse, news of the project hit Twitter as people as people tweeted to express how they felt about the auditions, praised those who sang well, dismissed folks who struggled to find the right key, and cackled at Leroy Church, the show’s casting director, who would shut down terrible auditions with a curt “Thank you. Ultimately, 50 people were chosen for lead and background roles in four separate productions that will be performed live on the app in the afternoons and evenings of Feb. The American Idol–style competition was complete with extremely direct feedback and sometimes hilariously shady moments from the judges, though there were no malicious intentions, Connors and Patterson told me. The idea came about as a way to bring about “Black joy during a time of darkness,” Patterson said, as well as to highlight talented artists who haven’t been able to perform because of the ongoing pandemic.Īuditions were held on the app over the course of three days, and more than 9,000 people sang well-known songs popularized by Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Loretta Devine. After seeing how the app could be used for creative endeavors, she teamed up with her friend of more than 20 years, Brandon Patterson, 28, a screenwriter in Los Angeles, to work on an ambitious project: producing a virtual production of Dreamgirls, based on the 2006 movie of the same name. Connors, who works in public relations and event curation in Cleveland, initially spent hours on it, joining various groups that appealed to her sensibilities as a theatre lover, which included chats centered around table reads of plays. Back in December, Sydney Connors, 28, received a notification welcoming her to Clubhouse, the audio-based, invite-only app.

Black app creators