Category: Shows

On Thursday January 30, 2020, the Historic Lincoln Theatre will show Pray the Gay Away® the musical on the big screen. This event is free and open to the public. Join us as we celebrate the cast and crew that brought this new theatrical work to the stage at the very same Lincoln Theatre. Doors open at 6:30pm and showing starts at 7pm. Open festival seating, first-come first-served and it’s free!

We will have some limited edition merchandise for sale to benefit our local chapter of Skagit PFLAG and the writer, Conrad Askland, will be on hand to meet audience members.

Pray the Gay Away® the musical sold out at the Lincoln back in November 2019, so this is your chance to see it if you couldn’t get tickets back then. We felt so bad turning so many people away when it sold out, so please join us! PTGA brought the painful world of gay conversion therapy to the stage that was a hit with audiences.

Show photos from opening night of Pray the Gay Away® the musical on Friday, November 8th, 2019 at the Historic Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA. Presented by Theater Arts Guild. Book, Music and Lyrics by Conrad Askland. Photos by Gary Brown.

Continue reading “Opening Night Photos from Pray the Gay Away® the musical on Nov. 8th, 2019” →

Thank you to Amy Kepferle for her article in the November 6, 2019 issue of Cascadia Weekly about my fourth full-length original musical Pray the Gay Away®.

Read the article on the Cascadia Weekly website at http://www.cascadiaweekly.com/cw/currents/a_musical_with_a_mission

Excerpt:

Cascadia Weekly: The play takes place in the 1980s. Same-sex marriage is now legal, and people have more rights than they used to regarding who they love. That said, what do you think the similarities are between now and then when it comes to accepting people for who they are?

Conrad Askland: The reason I am doing this production is that what you are saying should be true. We should be on the “other side” of this issue. The truth is, gay conversion therapy is still being widely practiced in the United States, and the Supreme Court is currently deciding whether the Civil Rights Act applies to the LGBTQ+ community. I personally do not see this as just an issue of gay rights, I see it as an issue of basic human rights, which the LGBTQ+ community should be fully a part of. This divide, this dehumanization, is part of the citizens of the United States defining what our culture is and what we want to stand for.

PDF of article:

Cascadia Weekly_ A musical with a mission

St. Paul’s Episcopal church of Mount Vernon, WA interviewed me about my musical theater work “Pray the Gay Away”®. You can read the article here: St. Paul’s interview on Pray the Gay Away the musical

Excerpt:

What would you most like people to know about this show and why they should experience it?

(Conrad) I think people have preconceived notions about what the content of the show is and its viewpoint…and I think most everyone is wrong. I’ve workshopped the material with a wide variety of focus groups to test the material. I always ask two questions: “Is there any place where you feel this show attacks the church?” and “Is there any place where you think this show attacks God?” Every single person in our workshops, over one hundred in all, have said no to both questions. If they had said yes, then I would have made changes. The show is not meant to preach, but to put opposing viewpoints and experiences on stage and let audiences make up their own minds. So in that way it doesn’t have a particular stance — but with the combination of music it will be very emotional for people and give them something to talk about within the community. Especially within churches. Of course, audiences are the final ones to have opinions and we will find those out on opening night.

PDF of interview:

Pray_The_Gay_Away-Interview-Conrad-Askland-St-Pauls-Episcopal-Church