Broadway's Adrienne Warren And Darkness RISING Project Join To Create Broadway For Mental Health Support

In response to the impacts of COVID related stress due to job loss, financial stress, necessary social distancing and isolation, Tony Award Nominee Adrienne Warren (TINA: THE Tina Turner MUSICAL, Broadway Advocacy Coalition) and Darkness RISING Project have joined forces to create Broadway for Mental Health Support, a campaign to provide mental healthcare for Broadway company members of returning shows. Through Broadway for Mental Health Support, company members will be provided with financial support for therapy through funding contributed by show producers.

Mid-pandemic, Warren reached out to TINA: THE Tina Turner MUSICAL producers in hopes of receiving actionable mental health support for the company. Says Warren: "Our community is in desperate need in so many ways. During this time, many people have benefited from just having someone to talk to. I feel it is important to do what we can to take care of ourselves and one another. This is just one way to do that."

Using the Darkness RISING Broadway for Mental Health Support Toolkit, an in-depth packet of mental health resources for intersectional communities, producers are able to offer specific support. Resources are provided for the BIPOC, LGBTQIA, Black and Latinx communities, White allies, artists, vets, those impacted by post-partum depression, substance abuse, and much more. Participants also receive free assistance in the search for mental health providers.

GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY has signed on for the program, as well as various Broadway shows using the Darkness RISING Broadway for Mental Health Support Toolkit in distinct ways in an effort to support company members.

Darkness RISING Project is a 501 (c3) nonprofit composed of singers and musicians from the Black Broadway community and Black mental health providers whose purpose is to help those in the Black community begin conversations about mental health, provide direct resources, and erase the negative stigma of mental health issues. Founding Executive Director Carlita Victoria says: "Our hope is to provide mental health support for as many shows as possible. It's becoming increasingly important to focus on our mental health."

More information can be found on the Darkness RISING Project website: darknessrisingproject.org or by contacting info@darknessrisingproject.org.