PROJECT: It Gets Better: Anti-bullying, Broadway-style.

It Gets Better Project

“It Gets Better” is the anti-bullying internet movement that got its start in September 2010 when syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage and his partner made a Youtube video to give hope to LGBT youth, in response to media reports of a number of LGBT teen suicides.
The movement has since spawned over 40,000 user created videos, over 40,000,000 video views,  and a host of celebrity videos, including President Obama, Hilary Clinton, Ellen Degeneres, Suze Orman, and many many others.

It is now given rise to a Broadway show.

Well, not a Broadway show, but a national touring show.

According to the Los Angeles Times Culture Blog– the Gay Men’s Chorus of LA is producing a national touring show that will feature a blend of music, theater and multimedia. The show will tell the story of a young gay teenager contemplating his life and will have a lot of contemporary pop music in it.  The show has dates so far in California, Pennsyvania, New York, and Iowa, and more are expected.

They are currently in rehearsals, and have a kickstarter campaign going. At each stop of the show’s U.S. national tour (with a focus on communities where the It Gets Better message is most needed), performances will be presented in tandem with a weeklong series of community outreach activities to strengthen local LGBT support networks.

“It Gets Better” was/is a wonderful and supportive moment of the Internet. It showcases the shining goodness and the awesome power that a tool like YouTube can yield, the power to truly change lives.

Find out more about the “It Gets Better” Project at their website:  http://www.itgetsbetter.org

See the kickstarter page for the “It Gets Better Musical Theatre Project”

See more about the GMCoLA’s “It Gets Better” Musical Project in this video:

Here’s one of my favorite “It Gets Better” videos, done by my teachers and friends at the Trinity Repertory Company. One of my favorite moments in this video is when Brian McEleney (who was one of my acting teachers) reminds you that the things that you think are important at 13,14,15, 20, 25– by the time you are older they are not important. Your depression is temporary, and you have to get beyond it.

And by the way, it gets Better. And Bigger!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Adam Gertsacov is the co-founder and co-organizer of Digital Family Summit.  He wears many hats, including those of a professional clown, an author and publisher, an artist/educator, a non-profit administrator, a P.T. Barnum impersonator, a flea circus impresario, and the esteemed hat of the Clown Laureate of Greenbelt, Maryland.