Monday, October 18, 2010

"It Gets Better": Broadway Stars Create Benefit Video and Download

The outcry in support of LGBT teens, and against the bullying of them which has resulted in several recent high profile LGBT suicides, continues.  Always up to support a worthwhile cause, the Broadway community has yet again come together. 

Putting their considerable talents together are such Broadway celebs as Jacob Clemente (Billy Elliot, Gypsy), Matt Doyle (Spring Awakening, Bye Bye Birdie), Ann Harada (Avenue Q, 9 to 5), Carly Jibson (Hairspray, Cry Baby), Jose Llana (Flower Drum Song, The King and I, Spelling Bee), Orfeh (Legally Blonde, Saturday Night Fever), Christina Sajous (American Idiot), John Tartaglia (Avenue Q, Shrek, Imaginocean), Marty Thomas (Xanadu, Wicked), Stephanie Umoh (Ragtime) and The Cagelles from La Cage aux Folles.

Recently, they came together to record a song called, appropriately, "It Gets Better."  Written by Jay Kuo and Blair Shepard, the catchy, meaningful anthem will be released as an mp3 on iTunes tomorrow.  All proceeds from this effort will benefit  The Trevor Project, an organization that provides help and support for LGBT youth who are contemplating suicide.  Available 24/7/365, this service has saved untold numbers of lives.  Recent events, unfortunately, show that it remains a large and pervasive problem.

A video of the recording session was also made:



In recent weeks, several members of the Broadway community (and others) have taped "It Gets Better" PSAs.  To read about these and to see a few, click HERE.

Please help The Trevor Project by supporting this effort.  Dowload the mp3 at iTunes starting tomorrow.  As someone who has suffered such bullying, I know all too well how important such help lines can be.  I was lucky (and still am) to have family and friends who helped me through the toughest time in my life.  So many kids - gay, straight, questioning, simply different - don't have that support.  So much more needs to be done to get these kids "over the hump" of the teen years, so that they, too, have the chance to know that life opens up way more possibilities than they can ever imagine, if they can just get through what feels like (and often is) the worst part of growing up.  It really does get better.

Think about what a much less exciting, creative and entertaining place Broadway would be had those bullies gotten the best of so many people that we, as lovers of the arts, have come to love and admire.  I can't even imagine. 

Thank you in advance for helping out this most worthy of causes.

Jeff
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