Like many of us, Rhode Island native Stephanie Castellone moved to Las Vegas to join the circus. A Valley resident since 2004, the aerialist, contortionist and hand balancer—known to audiences as Miz Charlemay—has performed at concerts, on Comedy Central’s Gong Show reboot and at numerous local parties and events. “I’ve traveled the world three times over … I never really settled down,” she says, adding that she recently took on a regular performing gig at Area15’s Lost Spirits Distillery.

But the circus isn’t the only calling that’s motivating Castellone these days. Back in 2018, the longtime medical professional—she’s been a hospice nurse for nearly 20 years—began to assist aging burlesque performers who were encountering difficulties in managing their own care. “This is something that’s been needed for a long time, that the burlesque community has almost been asking for,” Castellone says. “I was like, ‘OK, I’ll do it, but I’ve got to do it slow.’”

When COVID hit, however, that part-time assist rapidly turned to a full-time mission. The organization she co-founded with burlesque performers Ambrosia Minge, Miranda Glamour, Sheila Starr Siani, Spiderella and Fannie Annie, BurlyCares (burlycares.com), took on 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in June 2020 to meet the escalating threat to the health and wellbeing not only of burlesque legends, but also magicians, circus artists and variety performers. That assistance can include helping performers to order their medications online, showing them how to use Medicaid or Medicare to find necessary supplies and equipment, or simply providing some friendship in a lonely, isolating time.

Castellone spoke to the Weekly about working as BurlyCares’ CEO while balancing—pun intended—her life as a circus star.

What motivated you to co-found BurlyCares? I can’t take all the credit. Several burlesque legends, mostly in Vegas but a few outside of Vegas, asked me to do something like this. My response was always “Yes, let’s do it. But let’s go slow, because I just don’t have the time or the bandwidth.” So, from 2018 to 2020, we grew pretty slowly and steadily. At that time, we were just offering help to legends of burlesque—not even magic or circus [performers]. We offered medical supplies and medical equipment, because early on in my career, I saw that a lot of people weren’t getting access to the supplies and equipment that they needed because Medicare won’t cover it, or they don’t have access to it.

That’s where we started, and then COVID hit and it just threw us into becoming a full-fledged organization that provides … extensive case management, is how I’d describe it. We make it a point to advocate for people--to get them what they need, and ultimately keep them at their house, because nobody wants to be in and out of the hospital or, you know, to pass in the hospital. That’s a big goal of ours, to keep people home. And we’ve done it several times now, so I know it works.

How did BurlyCares address the threat of COVID? The first thing we did when COVID hit was a mask initiative, where we had over 300 masks handmade and mailed out to every legend on our BurlyCares list. We also mailed a mask for a family member, because we figured, well, someone’s going to be with them.

[When] everything shut down we were forced to identify which of our legends here in Las Vegas—we had to focus on Vegas, even though we have legends all through the country—which ones were most at risk. Once we narrowed that down, me and two other people were going out and visiting them, but it was very difficult because you know a lot of people were nervous about letting us in, because they didn’t know where we [had been].

Then, once the vaccine came out, there was sigh of big sigh of relief, and we were able to [visit the legends] our list that had really been isolated. … I mean, they’ve got family, and that was what may have bumped them down in the priority list, because we knew they were OK. But even with family, this person hasn’t left their apartment in a year, you know? … We slowly came back to legends that were isolated and fearful. We did a lot of teaching—”wear the mask, maintain distancing,” all of that. And I’m really, really happy to say that that I don’t believe there’s a single legend that we helped here in Vegas that got COVID really bad.

Do the legends share tips, stories? Almost all of them naturally just talk about what they learned, what they went through. And then we end up finding out through their stories that there’s some way that we relate to it, or they find out that I’m a circus performer, and they’ll say, “Hey, do you know this person” or “Have you tried this?” or they’ll see my act and they’ll say, “We could add this!”

And what’s really fascinating, too, is that every single time we visit, there’s new stories. … Some of these women are in their 80s and 90s, and they remember. From a health and mental health standpoint, [telling these stories] helps them; it keeps their memory alive. And it’s just really wonderful to listen to their stories, and then see how we can incorporate it into performing now.

They’re helping you, too. It’s really wonderful. I got into this thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t do it, it’s too much.’ And it’s not that there aren’t those days, but I go every night I go to bed, and my heart is so full—fuller than it ever was, even as a hospice nurse, and I have found a profound love with helping people pass. But this is so much different, because I know these women and men. … It’s even more heart-centered for me, because this is my performance family that I’m helping. Holy cow, we’re doing it.

Click HERE to subscribe for free to the Weekly Fix, the digital edition of Las Vegas Weekly! Stay up to date with the latest on Las Vegas concerts, shows, restaurants, bars and more, sent directly to your inbox!