Press Release 090419 – Gay Conversion Therapy Hits the Stage

Pray the Gay Away ®

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      Contact: ptgashow@gmail.com

Sept. 4, 2019

 

“Pray the Gay Away” ®

Gay Conversion Therapy Hits the Stage

 

MOUNT VERNON, WA – Theater Arts Guild presents the world premiere of Pray the Gay Away®, a serious musical comedy, November 8-24 at the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA.

Pray the Gay Away® takes place in 1980’s Minnetonka, Minnesota and shows the collision course of two boys being subjected to the controversial practice of gay conversion therapy, the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod that says “homosexual behavior is intrinsically sinful”, a Youth Pride LGBTQ support group fighting for human rights, and the local community caught in the middle.

For his fourth full-length musical, Conrad Askland, former music director of Cirque du Soleil and Rock of Ages, has focused his satire on the cultural, political and theological forces that surround the painful world of gay conversion therapy and the “pray away the gay” movement. This is a big, full-blooded musical with an irreverently comic heart that is also heart-breaking and emotionally charged. Pray the Gay Away pulls up the carpet to expose the underlying U.S. religious, political and cultural attitudes surrounding homosexuality and our understanding of human rights.

Ria Peth, President of Theater Arts Guild, shares that “Cast members have said a lot already that this show is changing their lives and it hasn’t even gone on stage yet. It’s very well researched. It’s a story based on facts.”  Cast member Jennifer Jacobs says, “The story and the music provide a pathway for better and more profound understanding of the barbarism of conversion therapy…” and “It’s beautiful and it’s uncomfortable…”. Cast member Jocelyn Amouria says “While this show is set in the 1980s, everything about it is still relevant and important in today’s society. Even if it helps just one person it’ll have been worth it.”

Pray the Gay Away, a serious musical comedy, performs live at the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA from Nov. 8-24, 2019. Tickets for the show range from $13 to $24 and can be purchased at lincolntheatre.org, by calling the Lincoln Theatre Box Office at 360-336-8955.

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Pray the Gay Away®

Skagit Impressions Six – Skagit Violin Dance

I composed this piece as part of a music production course for my Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with Berklee College of Music. While taking classes I was on tour as music director with the Cirque du Soleil show Varekai and was fortunate enough to have our violin player from the show, David Piché, record the violin tracks while in Vilnius, Lithuania.

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Skagit Impressions Five

“If I Could Go Anywhere” is a song I wrote back in the late 1990’s. Here is a new recording of the piece paired with photos of Skagit County, WA photographer Gary Brown. Part of our interdisciplinary collaboration of Pacific Northwest farmland photography with my original music for the “Gary Brown and Conrad Askland Project.”

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Ona, Norway Photos – Back to my Roots

On my tour with the Cirque du Soleil show Varekai, one of our destinations is the Oslo Spektrum arean in Oslo, Norway. The end of August 2017 was able to spend a week with my cousin to trace our ancestry back to my great grandparents on the island of Ona, Norway. It was our “back to our roots” tour.

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Tarragona – Solo Piano Improvisation

“Tarragona” is a piano improvisation by Conrad Askland. Recorded July 31, 2017 in Tarragona, Spain.

In this video you can see the far stone wall behind the piano. That stone wall is part of a guard tower that is dated to be at least 800 years old. Used at one point as a guard tower and later as part of a winery.

I thought about the long history of this special place in Spain and let my fingers color the imagination of what I saw in my mind’s eye.

St Clair – New Age Piano Improvisation

“St Clair” is a piano piece for my friend Judy St Clair. Judy and her husband were mentors of mine when I was younger and they guided me through many adventures. Some were sweet and some were painful, but still they were all adventures.

While playing this piece, I was remembering the light and playful camaraderie we had during those times. Style might be called a new age piano improvisation.

Recorded July 31, 2017 in Tarragona, Spain. Part of my “Tarragona Piano Improvisation Sessions” – Audio engineer: Jesus Rovira

The Tarragona Piano Sessions – Conrad Askland

(Song above is “Song for my Mother. Song 3-6 of the Tarragona Piano Sessions)

On July 31, 2017 I recorded four sessions of piano improvisations at La Casamurada recording studio in Tarragona, Spain. Most of the improvisations are light impressionistic pieces that some might call neo-classical or new age piano style.

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