Conrad Askland

Thank you to MaryRose Denton for taking the time to attend our rehearsals, interview our cast and write this beautiful article for La Conner Weekly News which was published on November 1, 2019.

Read the Article: La Conner Weekly News article on Pray the Gay Away 110119
Article by Mary Rose Denton

Excerpt:

Afterwards, I sat down with the mastermind, creative and musical director Conrad Askland, to talk this timely play, from inception to world premiere production. This is Askland’s fourth full-length musical and, he said, “by far my best work.” Askland took a two-year hiatus from his career as musical director for Cirque du Soleil and Rock of Ages to write and develop “Pray Away.” “It is not the show I want to do but the show I have to do,” he says rather openly and humbly. “The is a story that has to be told. We are seeing a roll back in the rights of the LGBTQ community. It’s not just gay rights, it’s about human rights.”

Thank you to Entertainment News Northwest (ENNW) magazine for doing a cover story on my fourth original full-length musical Pray Away. Read the ENNW November 2019 cover story article on their website at https://www.ennw.info/

And a big thank you to Marla Bronstein who took the time to attend our rehearsals and interview cast members in preparation for this story. The world premiere of Pray Away the musical will run Nov 8-24, 2019 at the Historic Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA.

Entertainment News Northwest November 2019 cover story

Pray Away at the historic Lincoln Theatre

By Marla Bronstein

Pray Away (PTGA) is an original musical that is best described as a serious musical comedy. Its world premiere, 3-week run open s November 8, 2019 at the historic Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA.

Continue reading “ENNW November 2019 Cover Story: Pray Away musical” →

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” →

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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PDF Download:

PTGA_Press_Release_090419

Pray the Gay Away®