Auditions Oct. 7-8, 2014 Romeo and Juliet the musical

Romeo & Juliet Auditions Oct. 7-8, 2014

Auditions for Conrad Askland’s Romeo and Juliet the musical will be October 7-8, 2014 at the Historic Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA. Visit www.RJMusical.com to sign up for auditions.

This show will be a world premiere with an all new musical score set to the original words of William Shakespeare. Directed by Joe Bowen and presented by META Performing Arts. This live musical version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet will run Jan. 30 – Feb. 15, 2015 at the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon, WA.

There will be NO participation fees for this particular production.

C.L. Askland’s Romeo and Juliet opera scored on an Akai LPK25

My upcoming musical theater opera, “Romeo and Juliet” was written with an Akai LPK25 two-octave USB keyboard. What? Muahaha, yes! In retrospect kind of hard to fathom, but there she is. I did all the music composition and beginning orchestration sketches in the Officer’s Bar of a cruise ship on my off time. The Akai LPK25 keyboard has convenient octave switching buttons on the side so I was able to easily navigate through bass and treble parts for fairly effortless composing. It was only a little tedious when doing soprano vocal lines; that’s when I really wish I had that extra octave. But hey, writing an opera on a two octave keyboard that fits in my computer bag – I’ll take that! Thank you Akai for an awesome product!

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Upcoming Musicals and Writing Projects

After the run of my latest musical, “PAN” (http://www.PanMusical.com), I’ve escaped to Europe and the Bahamas to perform, reflect and work on new projects. I love the different musical influences, especially Rome, Italy and Greece where I stumbled upon a concept for a new musical theater work that is dark and engaging.

Now in the Bahamas, I can’t really say that the musical influences of the tropical islands apply to my projects much, unless you need Reggae or club dance music ideas. But it’s good for relaxing and I’ve enjoyed the beaches and tropical locations with my compadres including Nassau, Belize, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Honduras and Jamaica.

So, to current projects: Yes, it’s true that I am working on a musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

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ENNW Magazine Review of C.L. Askland’s “PAN the musical”

The review is in for C.L. Askland’s “PAN the musical” world premiere!

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From reviewer Lily Olason from Entertainment News Northwest Magazine:

“Askland creates more magic”

“…spectacular musicianship”

“…this show delights believers of any age”

“Askland’s take on the Neverlandian pirate troupe is excellent”

“Captain Hook (Peter Whited) is delightfully menacing”

“Throughout, the musicality and original score stuns”

“It’s as much fun to watch the show as to listen”

“The aesthetics of this show…are a knockout”

“Choreographed fabulously by Glynna Goff”

“Forty-year-olds will love this as much as their third-grader”

“It is certainly appropriate for kids”

PAN the musical “asks the big questions, it makes you think, and hands you a mirror”

“Pan: The Musical is a local, skilled and professional-caliber production with a big heart”

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PAN the musical premiere cover stories

Cover articles from Cascadia Weekly magazine and the Skagit Herald newspaper on my latest theater work, “PAN the musical”. Previous cover articles included Entertainment News Northwest magazine. Thank you very much to these publications for supporting new theater works. For more info about my treatment of JM Barrie’s “Peter and Wendy” story visit http://www.PanMusical.com

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Press Release: PAN the musical world premiere

August 6, 2013 – Mount Vernon, WA:
PAN the musical world premiere will run Sept. 20 – Oct. 6, 2013 at the Lincoln Theater in Mount Vernon, WA.

Click Here to Buy Tickets Now

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Peter Pan comes to life with a cast over 40 strong in this live musical stage production. Fun audience interaction, melodramatic suspense, vaudeville gags and high brow musical theater combine to delight adults and children alike. Share this classic tale with your family while you help Peter Pan and the Lost Boys defeat the Pirates of Neverland.

A world premiere musical by Conrad Askland. Directed by Joe Bowen and presented by META Performing Arts. An interactive family friendly experience. The classic story for a new generation.

PAN the musical 2013 trailer

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PAN 2013 Performance Dates

Friday, Sep 20, 7:00 pm
Saturday, Sep 21, 7:00 pm
Sunday, Sep 22, 2:00 pm
Friday, Sep 27, 7:00 pm
Saturday, Sep 28, 2:00 pm
Sunday, Sep 29, 2:00 pm
Thursday, Oct 3, 7:00 pm
Friday, Oct 4, 7:00 pm
Saturday, Oct 5, 7:00 pm
Sunday, Oct 6, 2:00 pm
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Reserved seating ticket prices: $20, $17, $15, and $10 available now plus a special $10 bargain show on Thursday, Oct. 3, 7:00 pm – all seats first come first served night of the performance – tickets available two hours prior to curtain.

Fair warning: The first couple rows may get wet!

Sibelius – Part Name Prints Over Header Title on Subsequent Pages

In Sibelius notation software there’s a great feature where part names automatically print at the top of each page. Unfortunately this is also where your song title and subtitle are placed by default. The end result is that at the top header of each page over the first title page, the part title (full score, keyboard/vocal, trombone, etc.) prints on top of the title text and makes it all unreadable. The part name clashes on top of the title header text.

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What’s it like to be a musician on a cruise ship

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I played piano in the show band on the RCCL Navigator of the Seas from June 9 thru July 14, 2013. Ports of call included Rome, Sicily, Athens Crete and Ephesus (Turkey). This was my first time doing a cruise ship gig and it was a fun experience.

So what’s it like working as a musician on a cruise ship? I had read a lot of horror stories online so I was prepared for the worst. But you know what, it was pretty fun! Much better than I had anticipated.

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On Writing, Editing and Revisions

At present I am totally immersed in the writing, editing and revision process for several musical theater shows. It is exciting, depressing, grueling, tedious and ultimately the most fulfilling of all possible worlds for me. Several other writers have bared their souls on the writing process so I thought I’d share a little of my own experience.

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