Caba-Gay! The UNC Pauper Players are celebrating the LGBTQ+ community with a cabaret

The UNC Pauper Players are hosting a cabaret celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community at the PIT Chapel Hill on Saturday from 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Anybody is invited to sign up and perform songs that celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. Students are encouraged to sign up in advance but can also drop in on the night to perform if time allows. Performers can sign up for solos, duets or group numbers. 

The event is being organized in collaboration with Warner Music U in support of artist Ben Platt’s new music. Throughout the night, attendees will have the chance to win a $50 gift card from a Ben Platt-themed challenge and can be featured on the #warnermusicU tag if they sing a Ben Platt song. 

The Pauper Players are no strangers to hosting cabarets. Executive Director of Production Will Leitch believes they are a great way to discover new talent to bring to the organization.  

“It’s a way to keep getting people involved … It should be fun.” Leitch said. 

The theme of the cabaret, chosen by Pauper Players’ Social Coordinator Hunter Cates, is intended to provide members of the LGBTQ+ community with a safe place to come together and celebrate artists they love.

“I like to choose things that have mass appeal to people,” Cates said. “And as a member of the community, it’s important to showcase the LGBTQIA+ community.” 

While performers can choose to sing songs by LGBTQ+ artists, they could also choose songs that have become anthemic within the community, such as Diana Ross’ “I’m Coming Out." 

Cates’ own song selections include “C.L.A.T” sung by contestants from the most recent season of RuPaul’s Drag Race and “Let’s Have A Kiki” by the Scissor Sisters. 

While the event aims to provide participants with an evening full of energetic performances, UNC sophomore Aubree Dixon said it will also serve to invoke a serious discussion of the relationship between members of the LGBTQ+ and theater communities. 

Dixon, who plans to perform a song by Hayley Kiyoko, who Dixon calls “lesbian Jesus,” believes the prevalence of the LGBTQ+ community is minimized in musical theater circles. 

“Everyone needs to feel represented, and that’s what theater is about," Dixon said. "It’s about making people feel represented by what they see onstage and makes them feel connected to other people.” 

When discussing her song choice, Dixon said she turned to Hayley Kiyoko as her music explores themes of sexual orientation and identity, which perfectly encompasses the theme of the cabaret. 

Dixon also highlights the importance of the theme as it reaches far beyond the walls of the PIT. 

“A lot of times, we have people usually at the bars where we do the cabaret that get a taste of what we do here and what we stand for, and I think that’s really important.” 

arts@dailytarheel.com