Perform for Pride @ Deep Cove Shaw Theatre, North Vancouver, Jan. 11, 2020 at 7 p.m. $20. Tickets and more information: performforpride.brownpapertickets.com
Reese Findler never imagined she’d stay glued to the producer’s chair, but after a few years spent organizing shows and raising thousands of dollars towards the fight for equality in the process, she appears to be stuck.
That’s a good thing, according to the second-year Simon Fraser University student.
“I was just thinking about when I first got the idea for it – I don’t think I ever imagined I would continue,” Findler tells the North Shore News. “I didn’t think it would grow to this size and I would continue on and keep finding organizations to donate to and find new youth to participate in it, but there’s something that’s so special about bringing everyone together that performs.”
Findler is set to carry on with what she first started in early 2018 when she hosts the now third annual Perform for Pride benefit cabaret at Deep Cove Shaw Theatre on Jan. 11.
“There’s something electric about the atmosphere. It’s just a really exciting space to be in and an event to be part of,” she says.
Perform for Pride invites artists, performers, entertainers and anyone brave enough to get up on stage and share their talent to participate. The event will feature plenty of spoken word, dance, singing, music and more, including a few performers who make their way to the stage after taking part in the Youth Talent Search BC competition.
This year’s performance-cabaret-concert hybrid will feature the most acts booked to strut their stuff to date, at more than 23 performances totalling more than 45 people, according to Findler.
“We have a lot of high school students, but we also have a few younger kids doing it this year which is really exciting for me and we have some past performers but a lot of new faces as well, which I think is really cool to see it growing and see the range of performers diversify,” she says.
Perform for Pride is really an excuse to get people on stage who otherwise might not have a platform to express themselves and in the process raise money for Metro Vancouver’s LGBTQ2S+ community, she says.
Funds from this year’s event are earmarked to support RainCity Housing, an organization that provides housing and support programs for people experiencing homelessness around the Lower Mainland.
“I’m donating specifically to their LGBTQ2S+ youth housing program, which is an outreach program specifically for LGBTQ2S+ youth who have experienced homelessness,” notes Findler. “I also think they’re a really important cause and I think one of the first in Canada to have this kind of LGBTQ housing program. I think it’s a really important issue in our society right now.”
The last iteration of Perform for Pride raised more than $2,000 for Qmunity, a non-profit community resource centre in Vancouver which strives to improve lives and support queer, transgender and two-spirit people.
In 2018, the inaugural Perform for Pride cabaret raised approximately $2,500 for Rainbow Refugee, a group that helps people seeking refugee protection in Canada because of persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Findler, who was the co-president of Seycove Secondary’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance when she was in high school, hopes to match previous years’ fundraising totals this year, but adds the most important aspect of the event is raising awareness and bringing youth together to perform for a cause.
“There’s something about the connection that the youth have when we all come together and perform. We see people that we may have met somewhere, or we meet new friends, and I think that bringing all these youth together who are passionate about the same thing is a really cool aspect of it,” says Findler.
“I think for a lot of them it gives them a space to use their art to send a message and I think that’s an important part of performing arts.”
