LETTERS OF SUPPORT DELIVERED
In The Spotlight...
"A trailblazing musical that brings to the fore a nationwide epidemic of bullying and carries an uplifting, life-changing message of the role that each person can play in its solution" ~The Freelance Star, Fredericksburg, Virginia
OFFICIAL PAGE OF "IT'S EASY!"
The Be A Friend Project holds exclusive rights to license "It's Easy!" to educational entities including schools and youth theater programs!
BOOK BY
JANUARY AKSELRAD and JENNIFER YOUNG
(CO-CREATORS)
MUSIC & LYRICS BY
JANUARY AKSELRAD
MUSICAL ARRANGEMENTS BY
STEPHEN FERRI and ANDREW FOX
SUGGESTED CHOREOGRAPHY BY
JOSEPH BARROS
90-minute middle school musical with 21 songs
Cast:
24 middle school boys and girls, OR
23 boys and girls and 1 high school/adult, OR
24 boys and girls and 10 high school/adult actors
Multiple ensemble parts can be added. Collaboration with elementary school, high school and adult actors is an option.
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A POWERFUL family musical set in fictional Goodwin Middle School in suburban USA is available to license around the world! With and for kids ages 8-14, the 90-minute show is about the power of friendship, what to do about bullying and how, at every moment, words and actions can change the future and the lives of others. After its 2015 workshop debut in collaboration with the Riverdale Rising Stars JR theater program in the Bronx, NY, “It’s Easy!” was nominated “Outstanding New Musical” and “Outstanding Ensemble” by the National Youth Arts Awards. The anti-bullying “speak up, reach out and be a friend” message of “It’s Easy!” inspired this original 2015 youth cast and creators to develop the now national Be A Friend Project which has subsequently been woven into the licensable edition of the show. The Be A Friend Project has delivered close to 20,000 letters of K-12 peer support called “Friend Mail” to severely bullied youths across the country to help them stay strong, and can be a school and community tie-in during a licensed production. The musical's first professional run was produced by See The Wish in New York in 2017 at the Irvington Town Hall Theater and won 8 Broadway World Awards, including “Best Musical," "Best Choreography" and "Best Ensemble of a Musical." In 2018, See The Wish made the middle school musical available to license and in one year's time, was produced in New York, Virginia, Texas and went INTERNATIONAL with a June 2019 production opening in Seoul, South Korea!
SYNOPSIS...
“It’s Easy!” takes place at Goodwin Middle School where bullies make life miserable, bystanders “look the other way” and victims are many. 6th grader, Jed Travis, just wants to find the courage to speak up. Stacey Emerson just wants to know why her best friend dumped her for the girls that she hates. And Ricky Palmer? He just wants to disappear. Just as the day couldn’t get any worse, a kind custodian with a time travel app helps Jed. Together, with one unwitting cyber-bully, they see that their futures, and the lives of others, depend on what they say or do, at every moment… is it too late to change the heartbreaking fate of one bullied classmate? Not if it’s up to Jed! The future is always changing.
Age-appropriateness...
Hope, empathy and the power of friendship are the enduring and uplifting emotions of "It's Easy!" which encourages audiences to acts of kindness to prevent bullying. Bullying scenes between middle schoolers are tamer than real life, yet do include the 4 types of verbal (no cursing), cyber, social and physical bullying. In a scene from the future, it is implied that one bullied classmate may have taken his own life to stop the hurt, however the incident is not described or seen and children under 7 tend to think he just left school. The target audience is 8-14 years, grades 3-8. Younger children are some of the show's biggest fans and are upon your discretion.
"IT'S EASY!" HAS GONE INTERNATIONAL!
CONGRATULATIONS TO
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
Director Christine Lee,
Music Teacher,
for producing the
JUNE 26, 2019
International Premier!!
POSTER ART SUPPLIED!
Your Theater Company name here!!
We LOVE "It's Easy!" Licensees...
Mariah's Music & Arts, Stafford, Virginia,
WORLD LICENSING PREMIERE! Opened 9/2018
Greenways/Pinnacle Intermediate Schools with Randall HS, Amarillo - TEXAS PREMIERE! Opened 3/2019
Shepherd International Education, Seoul, South Korea - INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE! Opened 6/2019
3 - 3
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A little show history...
"IT'S EASY!" WORKSHOP DEBUT IN 2015 EARNED NOMINATIONS FROM THE
NATIONAL YOUTH ARTS AWARDS
"OUTSTANDING NEW MUSICAL" and "OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE"
Trailer of 2015 workshop debut production with Riverdale Rising Stars JR Theater Program kids!
Before "IT'S EASY!", there was "The Bully & The Bystanders" introduced in 2013 as part of our See The Wish DRAMATERIALS line of classroom plays that teach! This play with music, a popular choice among teachers, was the impetus for the full-length "It's Easy!" and comes with 3 songs including "Speak Up, Reach Out" which was made into a song video under the direction of amazing summer interns, Ben Weiss and Megan Litt!
2015 KickStarter Campaign video features young actors from the orginal cast, Co-Producer Jennifer Young and Director January Akselrad raising awareness about bullying, as well as funds to record a cast album.
Contact Us
449 LANE GATE ROAD, COLD SPRING, NY 10516
OFFICE: 845-797-9183
Co-President Jennifer Cell: 845-742-7112
The organization’s formal legal name is BE A FRIEND PROJECT, INC.
It is a not-for-profit 501c3 organization / Federal Tax ID # 84-2802576.
Any donation to the Be A Friend Project, Inc. is tax-deductible to the maximum extent allowed by law, thank you!