Not everyone’s holiday traditions look like something captured in a Currier and Ives lithograph or a Hallmark movie.

For them there’s Rust Belt Theater Company’s “How the Drag Queen Stole Christmas,” a bawdy riff on “A Christmas Carol” that still has a dose of holiday sentimentality, even if it’s surrounded by profane, pill-popping drag queens.

The show returns Friday for its 18th year, and for the second year it will be staged at two different locations — four performances this weekend on Youngstown Playhouse’s main stage followed by three shows at Rust Belt’s regular home at Club Switch from Dec. 20 to 22.

Robert Dennick Joki, who wrote the musical with Josh Taylor and plays Scrooge-like drag diva Starlett O’Hara, admitted he’s had a love-hate relationship with the show over the years. He doesn’t think it’s close to the best thing he’s written, and it sometimes feels strange that it’s the work most people associate with him.

“Somewhere along the line, the show got a local cult following,” Joki said. “And a lot of people, I think they saw something more cathartic in this show than I intended it to be. I intended it to be something that was just funny and irreverent, and for whatever reason, a lot of people relate to this show and the characters, and that kind of elevated it and made it something more emotional and about issues like PTSD and mental wellness.

“That was not my intention the first year when it was just a one-night thing to pay the gas bill at the Oakland (Center for the Arts). But it’s been like a cool experiment, the fact that it changes every single year to reflect what’s going on … I’ve made peace with the show. For a long time I didn’t like doing it, but I like doing it now. For me it’s like putting up the Christmas tree. This show is my Christmas tree.”

And, not to mix holiday metaphors, but it’s a tree decorated with “Easter eggs” from the past. The shawl worn by Nana, a character inspired by Joki’s grandmother, belonged to his grandmother, and for years it was worn by Geri DeWitt, a local stage veteran who died this year. There are lines in the show that may have originated as an ad-lib by DeWitt. There are props and decorations on the set that are inside jokes that will be remembered only by those who were in that year’s production.

But there also are brand new elements. Joki updates the show every year with references to recent events, and he wasn’t quite sure if or how he wanted to deal with 2024.

“It’s hard to find the balance between being funny and not being preachy, because I still want people to come,” Joki said. “I want everybody to be able to enjoy the show and laugh. But, also, the LGBTQ community is now under attack more than it’s been in quite some time. There’s legislation that could keep us from doing this show at places like the Youngstown Playhouse. Will it pass? I don’t know.

“We just walked in the holiday parade in downtown Youngstown. That very likely could be illegal for me to do next year, because they want to ban drag at any venue that might have children. And that would include the gay pride parade, you know. So even though it was freezing and even though I’m tired and kind of down about the results of the election, I still felt like walking in the parade as a group in drag was something that was important for us to do this year.”

Along with Joki, this year’s cast features Nicole Zayas, Caitlyn Murphy, Vicci Sfikas, Diane Marie, Connor Bezeredi, Jon Bunge, Rachael Kerr Bunge, Sarah Whitlach Lisa Torrence, Heather Powell, Joey Shilot, Charity Bauer, Shelby Gossick, Robert May, Keith Stepanic, Eric McCrea, PK Lankford and Rachel Clifford.

Increasing the workload is staging the show in two different locations. Last year “Drag Queen” opened at Club Switch and then Joki had to expand it to fill the Playhouse stage. This year has been harder, he said, rehearsing it at Club Switch to open at the Playhouse and then shrink it back down for the club.

Last year’s experience also encouraged him to play with the visuals.

“Seeing what the show looked like at the Playhouse, I kept thinking that a lot of these costumes, these wigs, it can all be bigger, shinier, louder, so I made some major changes this year,” he said. “I’m just trying to give a little bit of an extra bump for the larger stage, and it’s going to be over-the-top ridiculous in that smaller space.”

If you go …

WHAT: Rust Belt Theater Company — “How the Drag Queen Stole Christmas”

WHEN/WHERE: 8 p.m. Friday, 8 p.m. and midnight Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Youngstown Playhouse, 600 Playhouse Lane, Youngstown, and 8 p.m. Dec. 20 and 21 and 2 p.m. Dec. 22 at Club Switch, 221 Belmont Ave., Youngstown

HOW MUCH: Tickets for the Playhouse performances are $17 and are available online at experienceyourarts.org and by calling 330-788-8739. Tickets at Club Switch and can be reserved by calling or texting 330-507-2358.