{"id":204292,"date":"2026-03-24T19:00:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T19:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/204292\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T19:00:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T19:00:20","slug":"cabaret-show-love-is-love-brings-all-the-feelings-to-orlando-one-song-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/204292\/","title":{"rendered":"Cabaret show ‘Love Is Love’ brings all the feelings to Orlando, one song at a time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Daisy Dior Credit: Courtesy<\/p>\n

Aka Cabaret is turning Anthem Orlando into a pink-hued, rose-festooned celebration of love and community with its variety show Love Is Love running three days this week (Thursday, Saturday & Sunday, March 26-29, Anthem Orlando<\/a>, 100 N. Orange Ave., $40-$60).<\/p>\n

Founded by Daniel Perez, Aka Cabaret is a budding pan-genre troupe looking to redefine nightlife with high-energy, high-quality productions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perez tells Orlando Weekly that a love-themed concept has been in development for quite some time. \u201cIt\u2019s something that\u2019s been bubbling for me, but I found the right people to collaborate with,\u201d Perez says. \u201cTheater, art, cabaret and music, and everything we\u2019re doing as part of the show is really collaborative.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Achieving Perez\u2019s goal of a cabaret-style variety show celebrating the community required a cohesive ensemble. \u201cLove is such a broad topic that I wanted to make sure that we had a specific point of view on it,\u201d Perez says. \u201cThat\u2019s where we landed on Love Is Love, to make it about celebrating all forms of love, but also centering it on queer art.\u201d<\/p>\n

Love Is Love features artists and performers carefully curated to create the show Perez dreamed of. Musicians Mimi Batista and Cesar De La Rosa join violinist Peter Vawter to create an immersive musical experience, all hosted by local drag queen Daisy Dior.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perez explains that Dior serves as a guide through the show. \u201cWhen we were creating the show, I knew I wanted a drag element to be part of this. It\u2019s not just about the music. It\u2019s going to make you feel, but Daisy is going to guide you through the night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dior, meanwhile, tells OW that the diverse manifestations of love make the show a connective experience. \u201c\u2018Love\u2019 is love in your community, love in your neighbor, love of the art form, [it\u2019s] all-encompassing, all aspects of love,\u201d Dior says. \u201cIt\u2019s not just necessarily love between two people, but incorporating it into a broad spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Love Is Love features songs from seminal queer artists like Elton John, Sam Smith, Kim Petras and Billie Eilish. \u201cWe really looked to twist expectations,\u201d Perez says. \u201cThere are some really fun arrangements of songs that you already know. Our opening number is a very well-known Lady Gaga song, but we\u2019re taking a point of view that is really campy and jazzy.\u201d Additionally, Vawter will reinterpret pop hits with solo violin arrangements.<\/p>\n

\"\"Peter Vawter Credit: Courtesy<\/p>\n

Perez sets the scene, explaining that walking into Love Is Love, attendees will be illuminated with pink lighting and upbeat music. \u201cThe very beginning of the show is Daisy and the singers coming out and doing [the] opening number,\u201d Perez says. \u201cThat just tells you you\u2019re in good hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perez praises the performers\u2019 artistry, emphasizing that each engages the audience uniquely. \u201cEach one of the artists has a couple of solo moments in the show,\u201d Perez says. \u201cI\u2019m really, really excited to see them connect with the audience and bring their own spin on the songs that they\u2019re presenting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perez and Dior emphasize that Anthem\u2019s intimacy is perfect for the atmosphere that Love Is Love aims to create.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like we\u2019re in this giant massive theater where people are scattered everywhere,\u201d Dior says. \u201cThey\u2019re all going to be in there, and then they could eventually connect with the table next to them, or the person next to [them at] the bar. Who knows, friendships could blossom, or someone single comes to the event and they meet another person who\u2019s single. There\u2019s so much that could blossom from this because it\u2019s surrounded by love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dior\u2019s favorite part of the show is a romantic interpretation of a drag staple. \u201cTraditionally, at a drag show, you\u2019re handing the queen a dollar,\u201d Dior says. \u201cWe have a moment where everyone is going to be able to tip with a rose. They can place the rose [behind] your ear, they could place it on the collar of your shirt, or up a sleeve.\u201d<\/p>\n

The immersiveness of Love Is Love fosters connections among the audience through music and dance. \u201cThe very end of the show is a huge disco party, essentially,\u201d Perez says. \u201cOur goal is to bring everyone together. And I know that \u2026 everyone\u2019s going to remember getting an opportunity to dance together and be part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

At its core, Love Is Love is an experience designed to entertain and comfort. \u201cI think of entertainment as like medicine for the soul,\u201d Perez says. \u201cI really want folks to feel that relief.\u201d
Dior says that community engagement is crucial right now, and Love Is Love aims to foster that. \u201cOrlando, I mean, it\u2019s struggling in a sense of queer-friendly spaces and just spaces in general,\u201d Dior says. \u201cWhat we do is to bring safety, respect and love to our communities. This show will be really nice for the Orlando scene.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s daily dose of what matters. Subscribe to The Daily Weekly.<\/p>\n

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\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daisy Dior Credit: Courtesy Aka Cabaret is turning Anthem Orlando into a pink-hued, rose-festooned celebration of love and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[93902,93903,93904,93905,139,24234,141,140,93906],"class_list":["post-204292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-aka-cabaret","tag-anthem-orlando","tag-daisy-dior","tag-love-is-love","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-event","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-queer-artistry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}