BLAKE ALLEN’S “THE SHARDS OF AN HONOR CODE JUNKIE” HITS 2 MILLION STREAMS

Press Contact:

Michael Jorgensen
michael@jorgensenpr.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

“THE SHARDS OF AN HONOR CODE JUNKIE”




AN AMERICAN OPERA
BY


BLAKE ALLEN

HITS 2 MILLION STREAMS ON SPOTIFY
EXACTLY 4 MONTHS SINCE RELEASE

ALBUM FEATURES CELEBRATED ARTISTS

ALISON FRASER
MICHAEL LOWNEY
TEAL WICKS
KRISTY CATES
HANNAH CRUZ
TORI SCOTT
CREE CARRICO
KUHOO VERMA
ISAAC PHAMAN REYNOLDS
JOSH DANIEL
RON TAL
BRITA FILTER



ALBUM COVER ART AVAILABLE HERE


New York, NY (January 18, 2022) – The world premiere recording of the shards of an honor code junkie, an American opera written by award-winning composer and musician Blake Allen, has been streamed over 2 millions times on Spotify, exactly 4 months since the album’s release.

An American opera oratorio meets storybook album, the shards of an honor code junkie is an autobiographical story of a homosexual Mormon that embarks on a journey of self-love while challenging Brigham Young’s staunch eight Honor Code Rules, unhinging demons of drugs, sex, and suicide in a victorious coming-of-age story.

Distributed by No Reverse Records, the shards of an honor code junkie merges together script and score in a thirty-track tour de force that outlines the Honor Code Rules, and the consequences of abuse, retaliation, mental anguish and removal from the school if they are determined broken by peers or administration. With Broadway’s most celebrated voices, Allen invites listeners into his experiences as a Mormon student at the prestigious university and being raised in an extremely religious household under a parent’s watchful eye. Navigating the shame of sexuality, drug use, depression, and the loss of a close friend to suicide following their own shame, the work champions progress, acceptance, kindness and love—tenants that are part of the Mormon faith but missing from the fabric of BYU’s student culture. The release comes amidst recent controversy within the institution after rescinding an amendment to the code that seemingly accepted “homosexual behavior”.

A work that was originally conceived during Allen’s residence at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, with an AEA reading in 2015 and a 2017 staged concert in New York City, the produced record features Tony Award nominee Alison Fraser (The Secret Garden, Romance/Romance), Michael Lowney (La Cage Aux Folles), Teal Wicks (The Cher Show, Finding Neverland, Wicked), Kristy Cates (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Finding Neverland, Wicked), J Harrison Ghee (Mrs. Doubtfire, Kinky Boots), Hannah Cruz (Hamilton 1st National Tour), singer and actress Tori Scott, and opera soprano Cree Carrico, supported by ensemble voices Drama Desk Award winner Kuhoo Verma (Plan B, Octet, Big Stick), Isaac Phaman Reynolds, Josh Daniel (Book of Mormon), Ron Tal, and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 12 contestant Brita Filter. Zi Alikhan served as script consultant.

For more information, please visit BlakeAllen.org.


ABOUT BLAKE ALLEN


Blake Allen is an award-winning, chart-topping composer and musician known for his innovative bridging of contemporary music and theatre. Heavily influenced by the hymns of his Mormon upbringing and the vast, cultural landscapes of growing up in El Paso, Allen’s music is “full of yearning and exuberance and affection” with “strings to make you swoon” (NY Times). Allen made his composer debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2016, and also premiered his violin sonata L’abîme there in 2017 before his debut album, SONATAS, in 2020 (#1 classical charts). 

Besides composing music that blurs genre, Allen is also a performer and music director, most notably for orchestrating and music directing the record-smashing 2019 Revival of the Sherman Brother’s Over Here!, curating the sold-out “An Evening With... Series” for three seasons, and supervising several albums of NYC local, nightlife fame. Having written for and performed in film, Broadway, and at historic venues such as Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, The Beacon, Symphony Space, Strathmore Center, and across the USA, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and the seven Seas, Allen’s shows include the shards of an honor code junkie (Off-Broadway, 2017; 2014 Banff Artist in Resiency), Living the Dreamboat (Astoria Performing Arts Center, 2020), Folk Wandering (Off-Broadway, 2018), Kelly [1955] (NYTF 2019), Boston|Nebraska (2020 Kimmel Harding Nelson Center Residency), and HOCKET. 
For more info, please visit www.BlakeAllen.org or @BlakeAllenPresents. 



ABOUT NO REVERSE RECORDS


Moving independent artists of all genres forward in process & product with a sense of nostalgia. After a decade of producing records independently and within collaboration, Record Producer Mitchell Walker and Independent Creative Producer Ashley Kate Adams of AKA Studio Productions announced their Independent Record Label, No Reverse Records after the success of their collaboration with the development & production of the Billboard Charting album, FRANKIE! The Musical.


The full-service label, based in New York City, launched in January 2021 with original music from Billboard charting composer Elise Marra, Top 20 soul country duo JAME & RAY, The Watershed Band (Sunshine) & Blaine Krauss’ “Haus of Love” by Jeremy Schonfeld which is slated to be heard in the upcoming film Clocked. Forthcoming albums include Top 5 Classical Billboard charting Composer Blake Allen’s album the shards of an honor code junkie with Grammy nominated engineer David Alba (Jack White, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lavato) at the helm. www.noreverserecords.com 


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