Keiynan Lonsdale To Co-Host WorldPride Closing Concert: ‘Biggest Audience Of My Career’

Best known for his roles in Love, Simon and The Flash, Australian actor, dancer, and singer-songwriter Keiynan Lonsdale is set to headline and co-host Rainbow Republic, Sydney WorldPride 2023’s closing concert on March 5. 

In an earlier conversation with Star Observer, the Sydneysider said he was “super excited to put together this show,” which will showcase new music from an upcoming album. 

Second Album On The Way

“I’m working on my second album at the moment… [the audience is] probably gonna hear some of the music before anyone else,” he teased.

Rainbow Republic also marks Lonsdale’s return to hosting after a decade. 

The former MTV VJ, who interviewed celebrities and hosted parties and events, is relieved that he would not be doing it alone, with Melbourne-based non-binary singer-songwriter G Flip sharing hosting duty.

Largest Audience Of His Career

Rainbow Republic is the biggest audience of his career.

“This is the biggest stage I’ve ever performed… so it’s a lot of preparation, it’s a lot of meetings, and I like to be in on as many meetings as I can. It sometimes might annoy my team but I think they also appreciate it. 

“For me to feel confident, I want to know what’s happening with the lights, what’s happening with the screens, and what’s happening with the engineering and the sound.

“Because that way I feel like I can understand the heartbeat and the rhythm of each thing and I appreciate all the elements.”

Lonsdale adds, “It’s just a lot of chaos, to be honest. My life and my house usually look like a mess during the rehearsal period. So each time I do something like this, I try to get a little bit better at keeping my personal life together, while my professional life is going wild.”

His First-Ever Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

This year also happened to be Lonsdale’s first-ever Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

“The fact that this is the first one I get to experience and then WorldPride on top of that, and being part of it – It’s bonkers,” he said.  

“I think Pride is an amazing time. The fact that we got WorldPride here, I think it can really cultivate good energy and a spark that should last.”

“I’m also interested to see how this impacts us after this is all done – do we just go back to normal or are things forever changed?,” he added. 

Taking Part in Troye Sivan Writing Camp

With Sydney WorldPride coming to a close, a new album imminent, and collaborations on the horizon, Lonsdale believes this is going to be his biggest year yet.

“Once I finish these performances, I’ll go back to wrapping up album number two, and diving into the visual side of that and then start rolling out the second album,” he explained. 

Currently, Lonsdale is taking part in Pride SongHubs writing camp. The five days of camp feature music collaborations curated by pop superstar Troye Sivan and CEO of Milk & Honey Lucas Keller.

“All of us Queer artists, they rotate us around and we write a bunch of great music. It’s been one of my favourite music experiences that I’ve had,” Lonsdale shared.  

Dream Collaborations

Speaking of his dream collaboration in a past interview with Star Observer, he said, “It would have been Michael Jackson,” before adding, “Beyonce one day would be amazing and Frank Ocean. There’s a writer and artist named James Fauntleroy – he was a massive inspiration for me.  Ne-Yo was a huge writing inspiration for me… we haven’t sung together, so that would be cool one day.”

Lonsdale found his stride playing Bram in the groundbreaking, 2018 coming-of-age Queer romantic comedy, Love, Simon.

Born in Sydney, Lonsdale has 11 siblings. He shared what it is like growing up in a large family.

“We’re all quite different,” he said. 

“I’m kind of in the middle of that group. So, it keeps life interesting, but I’ve got siblings that are Nigerian, Aboriginal, Chinese, Samoan, Irish. I guess it’s a good melting pot and it’s kind of a nice little reflection of the world; a small little reflection of the world. So I feel quite lucky.”

An Easy, Enjoyable, Rich-In-Culture Kind of Experience

When in Sydney, Lonsdale prefers to spend time with friends and family, play video games, watch anime, and write music.

He also said that he likes to “take in the city.” 

“We have some of the best food ever and great cafes and it’s just an easy, enjoyable, rich-in-culture kind of experience.”

When asked what is his favourite thing to do on Oxford Street, Lonsdale replied that he loves to visit the Bookshop Darlinghurst, a staple in the community for over 40 years.

“I only went there the first time a few months ago,” he said. “I actually got really overwhelmed with the amount of knowledge and awesome gay literature everywhere – I wanted to dive into everything. So actually would love to spend more time there, just discovering more about our history.”