A high energy dose of artistic creativity in several forms will be in store for those at the Dr. Rodney Lafon Performing Arts Center on Jan. 10, when Artrageous takes to the stage.
The show begins at 7:30 p.m., at which time the show’s cast of artists, musicians, singers and dancers blend their talents together to create a unique experience. In a matter of minutes, a group of accomplished artists paint their respective masterpieces while drawing inspiration from the musical atmosphere surrounding them and the performers creating that setting. The overall troupe of artists, musicians, singers, and dancers pay tribute to a variety of art forms, pop icons, and musical genres culminating in a gallery of fabulous finished paintings.
Fun is the name of the game, as this is a show with plenty of performer/audience interaction. According to Artrageous’ Lauri Francis, it’s a show that never gets old for the performers, and every night yields its own unique experience.
“I can’t say enough about how much fun it is,” said Francis. “It’s a great, great time. If you love art, singing, music, dancing and just being involved, it has all of that. It features all of these arts on one stage … it’s hard to describe sometimes, because there’s not much like it.”
Francis said the troupe has been together since the 1980s and started putting together street theatre performances in Vancouver. Their chemistry and collective experiences led to the evolution of their performance into Artrageous, which was born five years ago.
“We all have a desire and a passion for the arts and how important they are in human existence,” she said. “We all kind of gravitated together in that way.”
Their individual performances tend to raise that of the others during the show as well.
“We have artists who draw inspirations from all the activity and music and singing that goes on around them … we work together as a troupe in that way. You see these larger than life masterpieces created on stage in about six minutes. It’s all about inspiring one another,” Francis said.
The family oriented show sees a wide blend of age groups in the audience, Francis noting many nights see three to four generations represented in the audience.
“Everyone has something where they say, ‘Oh, that was my favorite part,’” she said. “There’s a lot going on throughout the night.”
Her own favorite part is engaging the audience members at each show.
“You can’t do this show without an audience. They’re a big part of it,” Francis said. “Just getting to meet so many amazing people at each of the theatres we go to is such a highlight. Everyone has their own incredible story of what the arts mean to them.”
On the day of the show, the troupe will be setting up their “Splatter Station” for show goers to bring a blank T-shirts, hat, shoes or “whatever they’d like” for one of the show’s artists to splatter with paint, creating an original art piece to take home.
And one lucky member of the audience will get a more formal piece of artwork, as the troupe is planning to give away a painting at the show. The artists of the show have works displayed in galleries around the world, with at least one sold for $15,000.
Tickets can be purchased at the Lafon Center box office or at www.lafonartscenter.org.
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