Mark Shunock usually draws a sellout crowd for his Mondays Dark events. Three hundred seats are filled, easy, and performers sing and dance in the name of charity. But in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, March 16 was not an average Monday.
“It was a surreal moment for me when Mondays Dark started and there were four people sitting in a 3,000-foot room,” Shunock says. As the owner of performance venue the Space and the host of charity event Mondays Dark—a monthly variety show and charity event that raises $10,000 in one evening, each time for a different local nonprofit—Shunock made the decision to livestream the event after Gov. Steve Sisolak called for limits on public gatherings of more than 50 people, per the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I didn’t want to lose the opportunity to raise money for such a great organization,” Shunock says. The proceeds from the March event went toward Refuge for Women Las Vegas, a faith-based organization that provides aid to victims of sex trafficking. “We introduced livestream technology to the space about a month ago, so we livestreamed and were able to raise $10,000 for Refuge for Women while people watched from their living rooms.”
Some people did ask for refunds, Shunock says, but most ticket purchasers watched the show from home. “They let us keep their ticket donation, and all the funds went to the bottom line,” he says. “At the end of the day, you just want to make sure people are taken care of.".
Shunock is also the in-arena host for the Vegas Golden Knights (which suspended its season due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and an announcer for Top Rank Boxing. “I’m OK for a little while, but not long,” Shunock says of his current economic situation. “I’m blessed that one of my employers, Top Rank Boxing, has gone above and beyond for the team and its employees. … It's literally because of them that I can kind of rest easy. Not super easy, but kind of easy.”
Having closed the Space to large events, Shunock is working on opening the arts center to performers and bands that want to livestream their shows to virtual audiences.
“In the same way that I would book a band here, we can now do that same type of business model, livestreamed. If an artist wants to do a concert at the Space, we will make it super-affordable to do. I think there’s a great opportunity to make money as an artist and performer through livestreaming,” he says, adding that artists can reach fans all over the world through the broadcasts.
Now that Gov. Steve Sisolak has ordered all non-essential Nevada businesses to close for 30 days, Shunock is exploring his options for future livestreamed shows, with hopes of an April edition to benefit performers and artists who have been laid off during the pandemic.
