Celebrate Valentine’s Day at a Pride cabaret

North Idaho Pride Alliance, Drawn Together Arts partnering for event in downtown Coeur d’Alene

Crazy+in+Love%3A+A+Cabaret+devised+From+the+Heart+will+feature+three+performers+and+a+varying+medley+of+music.+

“Crazy in Love: A Cabaret devised From the Heart” will feature three performers and a varying medley of music.

ALEXANDRIA OSBORNE, Editor-in-chief

The North Idaho Pride Alliance is partnering with local performing arts group Drawn Together Arts to put on a Valentine’s Day cabaret this weekend in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

Jessica Mahuron, North Idaho Pride Alliance outreach director, said the Pride cabaret is part of a series of cabarets that will run from Feb. 11 to Feb. 14. 

The Pride Alliance was given the opportunity to have their showing of “Crazy in Love: A Cabaret Devised From the Heart,” on their own night.

Crazy in Love will be hosted on Saturday, Feb. 12, at the Art Spirit Gallery. The theme of the show is “love is love” in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, but it is also a Pride social event, Mahuron said. 

Duncan Menzies, Drawing Together Arts executive director, said he is one of three performers who will be playing at the show. His background is in Celtic musical theater. 

Another performer is Bobbi Katula from Seattle, who has a background in folk singing and songwriting as well as musical theater. Menzies said Katula will be playing original music. 

The third performer is Michael Strauss, who has a background in musical theater and spent some time in a rock band, Menzies said. 

“Cabaret” can mean multiple different things, but Crazy in Love will be a devised cabaret, Menzies said. A devised cabaret brings multiple performing artists together to combine their talents to tell a story. 

“Lots of times when I think of ‘cabaret,’ I think of a collection of songs from different musicals or jazz,” Menzies said. “It’s a little more than that because we have a plot and characters that we’re all performing.”

Menzies considers rehearsal a sacred space and is happiest when he performs. He said he is looking forward to sharing that sacred space with the two other artists performing at the show.

Menzies said that the performance will be a great experience and that the audience will get a sense of the real connection the artists have. 

“I feel like they can feel that, but there’s that sort of bond between the actors on stage, so that’s going to be good,” he said. 

There will be a social hour at 6:30 and showtime is at 7:30, Mahuron said. There will be a make-and-take arts and crafts activity available, as well as wine and other refreshments such as Pride desserts. 

Mahuron said she is looking forward to connecting with people within the Pride Alliance, as well as other community members, and watching people come together to enjoy the art and the social hour. 

If people are traveling to the event from areas such as Pullman or Moscow, there is a Comfort Inn and Suites and a Quality Inn and Suites in Coeur d’Alene people can stay at for the night, Mahuron said. 

“Those are just a couple [of] hotels that have gone above and beyond to be accommodating the LGBTQ+ community,” she said. 

Tickets cost $30 and can be found on the North Idaho Pride Alliance website, and information about the alliance and other events can be found on their homepage.