Ray Pritchard was born and raised in Port Angeles Washington, where he began loving theatre at an early age. Being from a small town in the corner of the state of Washington he was extremely privileged to get as much experience in the arts as he did. From singing and dancing groups in elementary school, to joining the band in middle school, becoming Drama Club President in high school and performing in Carnegie Hall with his high school orchestra, Port Angeles was a fantastic place for a young performing artist to grow up.
 

Following his graduation in 2001, Ray moved to Pullman, Washington to attend Washington State University. It was at WSU that he really developed his love for theatre. Under the wonderful guidance of Dr. Terry Converse, Ray grew as a theatre artist with every production and class. Ray served as the Teaching Assistant for all levels of Directing for 2 years, was an active member of STAGE, the undergraduate student theatre organization, and Nuthouse Improv Comedy for all 4 years at WSU. During his Junior and Senior Year, Ray served as the Organizational Affairs Director of STAGE and was a student representative of theatre on  VPLAC (Visual, Performing and Literary Arts Committee). He also received an Irene Ryan nomination for his performance as Petruchio in WSU's production of Taming of the Shrew. Ray received many awards through stage including; Best New Member, Best Comedic Actor, and Most Valuable Person. He also received the Calvin Watson Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Junior in Theatre Arts and upon his graduation in 2005 received the Outstanding Graduating Senior in Theatre Arts Award.
 

After graduation from WSU, Ray moved to the town of Omak, Washington where he became the Technical Director of the Omak Performing Arts Center as well as the Technical and Performing Theatre Teacher at Omak High School. While in Omak, he had the amazing opportunity to work with extremely talented students, faculty, and community members on several productions, but the most amazing part of this experience was being the local stage manager for all of the touring productions that came through the small town. While there, Ray had the opportunity to work with The Harlem Gospel Choir, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Great China Acrobats, Broadway on Tour, Missoula Children’s Theatre, Utah Repertoire Dance Theatre, and The Eugene Oregon Ballet. 
 

In 2008 an amazing opportunity was presented to Ray and he left Omak to return to Washington State University to take the position of Instructor of Acting in the Department of Theatre and Dance. He absolutely loved his time teaching at WSU as he was able to work with his former professors who were now colleagues, and was able to continue to grow and continued to learn from his mentor and friend Terry Converse. While at WSU, Ray taught Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Acting as well as Stage Speech, Stage Makeup, Movement for the Stage, Script Analysis, and History of Film.
 

In 2011, Ray was accepted into the MFA Directing program at the University of Idaho where he continued his growth as a theatre artist. While at U of I  Ray gained a new understanding and love for theatre and thoroughly enjoyed working with the amazing and talented faculty and students in Moscow. In December of 2013, Ray graduated with his MFA in Theatre with an emphasis in Directing/Performance. Ray remained in Moscow, Idaho for the next 6 months continuing to act in University of Idaho productions and was able to work with Idaho Repertoire Theatre as an actor, sound designer and build crew. Ray also was able to work with Center Stage Theatre in Federal Way, Washington as their Sound Designer for a production of 39 Steps.

 

Then in August of 2014 Ray moved to the city of Manitowoc, Wisconsin and became the Director of University Theatre for the University of Wisconsin - Manitowoc. Ray loved every minute of his time in Wisconsin, making many new friends, working with various community theatres and even directing for the prestigious Children's Theatre of Madison, a resident theatre company for the Overture Center of the Performing Arts in Madison, Wisconsin.

 

In 2016, Ray briefly held the position of Arts Center Technical Director at Lake Superior State University in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, but with the combination of a family emergency and an opportunity to move back to his home state of Washington, Ray decided to once again make a move across country and has been the Technical Director and Theatre Faculty member at Yakima Valley College since September of 2016. 

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Ray has directed, set designed, light designed, sound designed, and even acted in several plays and musicals since 2016 for Yakima Valley College and is also an active member and board member at large for the local Warehouse Theatre Company. His time in Yakima has been wonderful and better than he could have ever hoped for. He is truly thankful to all who have helped him along the way.