Digicel builds mini stage at Savannah for virtual show

If you pass by the Queen’s Park Savannah and see a stage, it’s not the stage that Machel Montano sang about trampling in Advantage. It’s not that Savannah stage of the 2020 Road March Stage Gone Bad.

Instead, it is a mini-stage put up by digital operator Digicel to host its February 14 Together As One show.

Construction began on Tuesday and was completed on Wednesday.

Colin Greaves, head of public relations for Digicel TT, said the show was not a fete and there would be no audience. The stage is part of an "outdoor studio," with the the Grand Stand as the backdrop. Greaves said the stage is a miniature version of what the Carnival stage would have been like, with a ramp on either end. He said the stage was not going to be used for any other purpose.

He added that the company received permission from the National Carnival Commission (NCC) to use it.

The show will be pre-recorded and then shown as live on Digicel’s various platforms. It is also working with some TV partners to source additional distribution channels for the event.

The show is part of Digicel’s Carnival Lives on with Digicel campaign, an effort to keep the Carnival spirit alive through a series of virtual events even though there will be no Carnival 2021.

“We are helping to cure the Carnival tabanca that exists. So we’d be having no Carnival 2021 and, of course, still looking for opportunities to create employment for the various artistes, dancers and Carnival stakeholders.”

Greaves said the company worked with Carnival stakeholders to create a show that pays tribute to Carnival’s essence. People can expect to see mas, pan, calypso, extempo, chutney and more in Together As One.

Digicel’s nine brand ambassadors – Nadia Batson, Patrice Roberts, Nessa Preppy, Nailah Blackman, Voice, Sekon Sta, Swappi, Preedy and Rome – will also be a part of the show, coupled with surprises in between.

He also stressed, “With the production, in order to ensure that it is being pulled together with strict adherence to the covid19 protocols as directed by the Police Commissioner Gary Griffith, there are police officers on site for each night of the recording. They oversee the entire operation.”

He said everyone on site is required to sanitise and have their temperatures taken on entrance to the Grand Stand. They must also keep their masks on during filming.

The recording is being done over multiple days to ensure there isn’t an overload of artistes on any one day.

“Again, we were trying to capture the essence of what our Carnival was...we are not trying to recreate the Carnival, and we are not trying to recreate a fete atmosphere. But we are doing a show and we created an outdoor studio,” he said.

Digicel wants to just do its part to keep the culture alive and bring it over in a responsible and managed way, Greaves said.