December at the Foundry Brings Inclusive Merriment
The venue provides a fun space for celebrated performers and multiple LGBTQ+ holiday spectacles.
December in the Berkshires always sparkles, but the Foundry is determined to crank the wattage all the way up. The West Stockbridge arts hub is rolling into the holiday season with a month-long slate of comedy, drag, global music, and community performances that embrace nostalgia with a thoroughly modern, irreverent perspective.
The lineup opens with a wink as WERQshires, a rising trio of local drag performers whose shows mix camp, choreography, and community outreach, reimagines “A Christmas Story” through sequins, satire, and the worldviews of Bella Santarella, Poppy DaBubbly, and Vuronika Baked. Their one-night sendup on December 5 sets the tone for a holiday season at the Foundry that refuses to take itself too seriously.
The following evening, December 6, the mood shifts into a very Berkshires blend of theatrical skill and experimentation with “Just Add Water,” a spontaneous performance night guided by Tom Truss. After a packed debut this fall, Truss’s ensemble, including Heather Fisch, Dave Edson, Marcus Neverson, Ellen Russo, Noh Bailey, and others, returns to build improvised theater from audience prompts. It’s part comedy, part collective trust fall, and part reminder of how playful the region’s arts community can be.
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Actor and comedian Alec Mapa brings a different kind of chaos on December 7 with “The Buttcracker,” his gleefully unhinged new holiday hour. Known for everything from M. Butterfly to “Ugly Betty,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” and “Doom Patrol,” Mapa arrives with a sackful of credits and no apparent interest in subtlety. The Foundry tends to shine when it leans into the cheeky, and this one checks that box with gusto.
On December 11, the internationally touring sister duo Cassie & Maggie stop in West Stockbridge with “A Very Very Cassie & Maggie Christmas,” a mix of traditional and contemporary Celtic arrangements carried by their tight harmonies and percussive step dancing. The next night, December 12, drag icon Jackie Beat storms the stage with “Pretty Lady Christmas,” a holiday tradition for fans of razor-sharp parodies and wit delivered with fully live vocals. No lipsyncing!
The Foundry’s colorful commitment to the regional LGBTQ+ community continues to take center stage on December 13 with “Seeing Rainbows: Winter Open Stage,” presented with Wander Berkshires. Poetry, puppetry, song, jokes, dance, juggling—anything goes. The evening is framed as a showcase and celebration of collective creativity, letting performers and curious newcomers create together.
The calendar concludes with contemplative radiance on December 17 as Kongero, a renowned Swedish four-woman vocal ensemble, brings its intricate, contemporary take on Nordic folk music to the venue. Their harmonies, honed since the group’s formation at a Nordic folk conference in 2005, have carried them across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. In the intimacy of The Foundry, their sound promises to feel especially resonant.
Across the board, December at The Foundry is shaped by a throughline of generosity—artists offering their brilliance, audiences offering their curiosity, and the venue offering a space where irreverence, earnestness, and experimentation can all happily coexist.
Full details and tickets are available at thefoundryws.com.
