The pastors of Burlington Lutheran Church (Burlington, WA) and St. Paul’s Episcopal and Resurrección churches (Mount Vernon, WA) make a public statement on the Theater Arts Guild production of the musical “Pray Away”. PTGA will premiere live on stage November 8-24, 2019 at the Historic Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA.
Cast of Pray Away the musical world premiere
Here are the cast bios and headshots for the world premiere of my fourth original full-length musical, Pray Away. The premiere will run Nov. 8-24, 2019 at the Historic Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA (USA).
CAST MEMBERS
(listed alphabetical by first name)
Pray Away world premiere
Adia Bowen (Lisa)
Adia is thrilled to be a part of a Conrad Askland musical for the third time, following Pan the Musical as Tiger Lily and Romeo and Juliet the Musical as Juliet’s Understudy. Adia recently played The Witch in Into the Woods, and Ariel in The Little Mermaid with META Performing Arts. Adia studies classical voice and is a proud member of the Mount Vernon High School Choir program. She would like to thank her parents for always pushing her to be her best, and her grandparents for being her biggest fans.
Adrian Lane (Tyler)
Adrian will be a senior at MVHS as well as a freshman at SVC. He enjoys hiking in his free time and aspires to be a nurse and hopes to keep doing theatre throughout his life. His recent shows include A Chorus Line (SVC), Shakespeare In Love (ACT), Into The Woods (META), and The Little Mermaid (META).
Continue reading “Cast of Pray Away the musical world premiere”
Press Release 090419 – Gay Conversion Therapy Hits the Stage
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.
###
PDF Download:
Romeo and Juliet – the musical
For licensing and rights, contact me here on my website.
Romeo and Juliet the musical uses the original English text of William Shakespeare.
-
- Romeo and Juliet the musical
- Book and Music by Conrad Askland
- Lyrics by William Shakespeare
- Premiere January 2015
- Historic Lincoln Theatre, Mount Vernon, WA
- Presented by META Performing Arts
Video Excerpts from Romeo and Juliet the musical by Conrad Askland
“I Fear Too Early” – Romeo solo song
“Quench the Fire” – Song from the Romeo Juliet Masquerade Ball Dance
Juliet’s Death
Paris at the Tomb
Nurse’s Song from Romeo and Juliet the musical
Music Overture to Romeo and Juliet the musical – (Full length version)
“Come Vial” Juliet solo from Romeo and Juliet the musical
“Go Counselor” Juliet solo from Romeo and Juliet the musical
Bedroom Scene video and music from the Romeo Juliet musical
“I Fear Too Early” Romeo solo from Romeo Juliet musical production
“Come Gentle Night” Juliet solo song from the modern Romeo Juliet musical
“Measure of Thy Joy” Romeo solo song and “They Are But Beggars” Juliet solo song
Romeo and Juliet Meet – The famous Masquerade scene from Romeo and Juliet
If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This shrine the gentle fine is this
My lips, two blushing pilgrims ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss
The Queen Mab speech from Romeo and Juliet
Father I Beseech You – Juliet pleads with her father
“We Are Undone” – Nurse tells Juliet that Romeo has killed Tybalt
I hope these clips reach some educators looking to incorporate Shakespeare with musical theater. I would love to see this production done by a university.
PAN the musical
For licensing and rights, contact me here on my website.
PAN the musical is the story of Peter Pan and Wendy, based on the beloved classic story by J.M. Barrie.
- PAN the musical
- Book, Music and Lyrics by Conrad Askland
- Based on “Peter and Wendy” by J.M. Barrie
- Premiere September 2013
- Historic Lincoln Theatre, Mount Vernon, WA
- Presented by META Performing Arts
Excerpts from PAN the musical
Witches! the musical
For licensing and rights, contact me here on my website.
Witches! the musical is the story of the Salem witch trials of 1692.
- Witches! the musical
- Book, Music and Lyrics by Conrad Askland
- Premiere October 2012
- Historic Lincoln Theatre, Mount Vernon, WA
- Presented by Theatre Arts Guild
Excerpts from Witches! the Musical
Mamma Mia – Music Director Notes
I just finished a 10-show run of Mamma Mia at McIntyre Hall (Mount Vernon, WA) with Theater Arts Guild of Skagit County WA, a nonprofit community theater group.
On this show I worked as music director, vocal director, rehearsal pianist and Key1/Conductor.
Mamma Mia Music Director Notes
1 Overture
2. I Have A Dream
Cutoff on third “Sophie” – hold and fade on any chord.
3. Honey Honey
Underscore cut m. 67-71 (dialogue goes quick)
Chorus – in rehearsal have chorus sing open “Ah” on all background vocals. This will get them used to having a full open sound – then with open sound, change lip formation to “ooh”
m. 92-103 Key3 – awesome blues piano part but needs to be pianissimo for dialogue
m. 104 vamp – vamp is F7-Bb7 – last time I play G7-C7 so entrance is very clear for chorus
The Power of Synopsis in Script Outlines
I’ve been hunkered down in creating the outline for my fourth musical theater work. A massive amount of time has been spent reviewing and refining my knowledge on the process and getting back in gear. Quite a bit of time has been spent on the outline. The reason is that my first script draft, at 70 pages, became so jumbled and confusing that I had to throw it out and start all over. My new approach begins with the outline.
But even with focusing on the outline, my work has quickly ballooned into 80 pages of notes. Not even notes about my specific musical but notes on different approaches to take to script writing. So again I started with a fresh outline of “beats” only to have that, at only 6 pages, start to become a fresh new spider’s web.
You know what process I skipped? The synopsis. And now that I have re-found the synopsis part of the process it is like a lightning bolt for my vision of structure.
Leadership Approaches for Promoting Change in Organizations
LEADERSHIP APPROACHES FOR PROMOTING CHANGE IN ORGANIZATIONS
Conrad Askland
December 2018 – Colorado State University
ABSTRACT
Nonprofit arts organizations can have a particularly difficult experience enacting change within their organizations. This is partly due to the artist mindset that can have a default resistance to change, group and sub-group dynamics that create barriers to change, an ineffective leadership practices to overcome these challenges. This paper will highlight some of the barriers to change that appear in arts organizations as well as provide various leadership approaches that can be effective in facilitating healthy change within those organizations. Included are ancient leadership theories of Lao Tzu, the theory of reverse dominance and constructive dissent by Grint and successful leadership tactics identified by Kotter.
Continue reading “Leadership Approaches for Promoting Change in Organizations”
The Stories Behind Some of the Favorite Christmas Carols of All Time
Music has been an integral part of the Christmas celebration since the earliest years of the celebration. From traditional sacred music to up-tempo tunes, the songs of Christmas are a major part of the holiday.
But how much do you know about the origin stories of your favorite Christmas carols. Here is the story behind some of the most popular and well known Christmas carols of all time.
Continue reading “The Stories Behind Some of the Favorite Christmas Carols of All Time”