The ARTrageous troupe based in Albuquerque is making a return visit to Farmington for a double billing at the Farmington Civic Center on Sunday and Monday.
The troupe plans a matinee performance 2 p.m. Sunday. Dec. 17, and a show at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Lauri McKelvey-Francis, marketing director and performer for ARTrageous, said in a phone call Monday that their schedule is busy but always “up and down and, you know, being on tour is always a lot different from being at their home base” in the mountains east of Albuquerque.
She said their fall tour included 25 dates September to November, and now they’re back home preparing for the Farmington shows.
One of many highlights on the tour was a performance at the Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg, West Virginia. “It was a beautiful theater and obviously the guests were amazing and fun,” Francis said.
Francis said it will be a different set with a Christmas-based theme and paints from the regular shows. People attending can expect surprises, including characters dressed in Christmas costumes “walking around doing different activities.
“So people definitely want to come early If they can, because it's for the people who walk in the door early, they're gonna get to participate in some games and get some little prizes and proxies.
“We’ve got some funny and naughty little elves,” Francis said with a chuckle.
The ARTrageous troupe
Jolene Davis
Chris Francis
Jaden McKelvey-Francis
Lauri McKelvey-Francis
Sophia Mitchell
Jarvis Moorehead
Marco Ortega
Ian Weiss
John de Wolf
“We always try to make our the next show even more ARTrageous than the previous and we think that (our) Christmas one is going to be really fun and super-joyful and just get people into Christmas,” Francis said.
“We have done one Christmas show previous to this, but this one's gonna be a little different because we love our Farmington friends. And so we're going all-out for Farmington,” Francis said, adding that they did one at a festival in California.
Prompted to share other hints about their Christmas show, Francis said, “Well, I think people can expect the same immersion as our regular ARTrageous show because that's something that we would never want to give up.”
She said the music will include a “couple of really lovely, standards and original music,” as well, including some singalongs of Christmas songs that everyone will know.
Francis said the troupe plans to return to Farmington in summer for their sixth performance and to work with youths in a residency program as they did last year or for another ARTrageous show.
She said the dates remain to be finalized with the Farmington Civic Center.
Tickets for the performances on Dec. 17 and 18 are $24-$28 and available at https://bit.ly/48hHV73.
