Friday, March 24, at 7:30 p.m.
Ferguson Hall at the Straz Center
Regularly priced tickets are $25-$45
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TAMPA, Fla. — The Straz Center for the Performing Arts presents it gets better on Friday, March 24, at 7:30 p.m. in Ferguson Hall.
When several young people took their lives after being bullied in school, syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage and his partner Terry Miller created a YouTube video to give hope to LGBTQ teens. The video went viral and incited a following that became the it gets better movement, showing young LGBTQ people the levels of happiness, potential and positivity their lives will reach – if they can just get through their teen years. The work explores what “better” means for LGBTQ youth through stories, songs and multimedia on an array of challenging themes. With its unqualified support of all young people, it gets better creates and unites allies in solidarity against the pervasive (and growing) climate of bullying and teen violence.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA), in collaboration with the It Gets Better Project™ and Speak Theater Arts, takes this profound message one step further in it gets better, as a small but dedicated ensemble travels to Tampa and other communities nationwide to produce a week of educational workshops culminating in a moving musical theater performance. An eight-member cast of the GMCLA forms the core of the touring production, and these artists collaborate with local performers, citizens and educational and government institutions for a week that highlights anti-bullying, tolerance and acceptance through community roundtable discussions, high school visits, it gets better videos, and creative exercises.
The It Gets Better Project™ has become a worldwide movement, inspiring more than 50,000 user-created videos viewed more than 50 million times. To date, the project has received submissions from celebrities, organizations, activists, politicians and media personalities, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Adam Lambert, Anne Hathaway, Colin Farrell, Matthew Morrison of Glee, Joe Jonas, Joel Madden, Ke$ha, Sarah Silverman, Tim Gunn, Ellen DeGeneres, Suze Orman, the staffs of The Gap, Google, Facebook, Pixar, the Broadway community and many more. For the It Gets Better Project™, every video changes a life – it doesn’t matter who makes it.
Regularly priced tickets for the Friday, March 24, at 7:30 p.m. performance of it gets better are $25-$45 and may be purchased by calling 813.229.STAR (7827) or 800.955.1045 outside Tampa Bay, in person at the Straz Center Ticket Sales Office or online at www.strazcenter.org. Handling fees will apply. For more information about the Straz Center for the Performing Arts and its upcoming events, please visit the Straz Center’s website at www.strazcenter.org.
Events, days, dates, times, performers and prices are subject to change without notice.