Garrett Allain's One-Man Show ALTERED BOY to Play Pride Arts Center

He's Catholic, he's gay - what could go wrong?

ALTERED BOY follows the life of Garrett, a good little Catholic boy who says his prayers, makes good grades, performs in school plays, and wins participation trophies for recreational sports. As he gains more years and fewer trophies, his connection with the Church grows stronger. And yet the closer he gets to the Church, the further he gets from who he thought he was. Journey with Garrett through storytelling, song, dance, and video in this earnest yet very funny one-man show.

ALTERED BOY - a one-man show by Garrett Allain - earned laughs and tugged at hearts in the Fifth Annual Nerd Comedy Festival at Stage 773 this past September.

Garrett Allain hails from Prairieville, Louisiana, where the fish and mosquitos aren't the only things that bite. He acted in his first play in the second grade and was hooked. Ascension Community Theatre credits include THE FOREIGNER (Ellard Simms), CYRANO (Ragueneau), and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (Mendel/Russian Dancer). He attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York and Los Angeles to study contemporary and classical theatre, with a secondary focus on dance, singing, and film.

Garrett will soon make his five-year mark in Chicago, where he relocated to study improv and comedy writing at The Second City. He graduated from their Music Program and has been performing and co-writing musical and sketch comedy the past four years. Musical comedy revues include ALL LIES ON US, LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLESTEROL, and CHOLESTEROCK: DARK SIDE OF THE SPOON. He has appeared in the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival four times, as well as the Chicago Women's Funny Fest, Chicago Nerd Comedy Fest, Out of Bounds Comedy Fest in Austin, TX, and the New Orleans Film Fest. He has also performed in films at Columbia College and Harold Ramis Film School. ALTERED BOY is his first solo show, and he is very proud of its reception and progression.

ALTERED BOY is directed by Jeff Bouthiette (above), a Chicago-based director, actor, and playwright. He is currently Head of the Music Program at the Second City Training Center. Recent directing credits include CHOICE: THE MUSICAL as part of Premiere Premieres at MCL Chicago, DELIGHTMARE (ON ELM STEP UP 2 THE STREETS 2 FAST 2 FURIOSA) at Judy's Beat Lounge, and 'TIS THE SEASONAL DEPRESSION with Gayco (currently playing at Pride Arts). He has also worked with Victory Gardens, Gorilla Tango, the Charles Busch Festival, Bare Boned Theatre, and countless student sketch and improv shows with the Second City Training Center. He is a proud graduate of the Academy at Black Box Acting. Robbie Ellis, music director for Second City Theatricals, will be music director.

ALTERED BOY will be performed Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through December 17 - then Thursdays through Saturdays from December 21 -30. All performances will be in The Buena, Pride Arts Center at 4147 N. Broadway. Tickets are priced at $25 ($15 preview Friday, November 24) and will be available soon at www.pridefilmsandplays.com or 1 800 737 0984.

Pride Films and Plays changes lives through the generation of diverse new work (or work that is new to Chicago) with LGBTQ+ characters or themes that is essential viewing for all audiences. We accomplish this mission through fully-staged productions, writing contests and staged readings, film screenings, and special events. We foster long term relationships with artists to create programming that is as diverse, unique, and complex as the community we represent. In 2015, Huffington Post called PFP "A powerful and empowering entity." The company acquired its two performance spaces at 4139 and 4147 N. Broadway in July 2016, renaming the spaces the Pride Arts Center.

Pride Arts Center (PAC), operated by Pride Films and Plays, opened in 2016 and consists of two performance spaces: The Buena at 4147 N. Broadway which has 50 seats and The Broadway at 4139 N. Broadway which has 85 seats. PAC has become an important part of the arts environment in the Buena Park neighborhood and beyond by hosting events including After Orlando, Bechdel Fest, SheFest and the 525,600 Minutes Cabaret. Additional tenants in 2017 include Walkabout Theater, New American Folk Theater, Cor Productions, Underscore Music Theater, 20% Productions, About Face Youth Theater, Another Door Productions, and of course Pride Films and Plays.

For more information about space at Pride Arts Center, visit www.prideartscenter.com, or www.pridefilmsandplays.com.

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