By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UNION SQUARE — A group of Broadway stars are getting together Friday to record a song called "It Gets Better," in a bid to inspire LGBT youth struggling through hostile bullying, or worse, from their peers.
Sparked by the recent suicide by Rutgers student Tyler Clementi, who killed himself after his roommate recorded and broadcast his homosexual encounter in his dorm room, the project aims to raise awareness of LGBT teen suicide.
"It Gets Better," written by Jay Kuo and Blair Shepard, was inspired by the YouTube channel by the same name, which was launched by syndicated columnist Dan Savage and encourages older members of the gay community to offer testimonials on how they overcame bullying and intolerance.
As Savage recently told MTV News about the project, "the reaction as an openly gay adult, always, when you read these stories [about gay teen suicide] is, 'I wish I could've talked to this kid for five minutes, so I could've told him it gets better.'"
A number of Broadway stars are participating in the recording, including Danny Calvert of the "Broadway Boys," "Imaginocean" producer John Tartaglia and a slew of talent from shows like "Avenue Q," "Bye Bye Birdie," "Spring Awakening" and "La Cage Aux Folles."
"This really personally affects them because they were people like that in high school," said Kuo. "They owe it back to these kids to deliver the message."
Kuo felt that the actors could reach the greatest number of gay teens with a Broadway-style recording.
"We can reach kids in the language that they’ll understand," Kuo said. "Broadway has direct connection to LGBT kids."
All proceeds from the "It Gets Better" project will go to The Trevor Project, a nonprofit that runs a national suicide prevention hotline for LGBT youth.
