About the song

From "The Hinterlands". Paul, a 14-year old gay kid from the middle of nowhere, discovers his own sense of self-worth and resiliency, despite being viciously bullied at school by his peers.

About the composer

See 60 more songs by the composer.

Danny Larsen (composer & co-lyricist) and Michelle Elliott (bookwriter & co-lyricist) graduated from New York University’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Their first musical, The Yellow Wood, was awarded a Richard Rodgers Development Award and the Daryl Roth Award. In 2007, The Yellow Wood was presented in the New York Musical Theatre Festival, where Danny received the award for Best Music. The show was also part of the Village Originals and the National Alliance of Musical Theatre Festival. Cloaked, their second show, received workshop productions at CAP 21 and Village Theatre. Cloaked received a Jonathan Larson Grant and Michelle was the recipient of the Kleban Prize for Most Promising Librettist for the show.

Danny and Michelle wrote, filmed and produced a seven-part musical for teens entitled The Hinterlands in a response to the spate of suicides by gay youth. The show can be viewed at HinterlandsTheMusical.com and via Youtube.

Michelle and Danny’s musical for young people, Zombie in Love, premiered at the Oregon Children’s Theatre, where it received multiple Drammy Awards, including Best Original Score and Best Original Script, as well as the Portland Area Musical Theatre Award for Outstanding Original Musical. Their musical, Catch the Wind (formerly Maiden Voyage), is a passionate exploration of the lives of women aboard a notorious pirate ship and was presented at the Buck Hill Skytop Music Festival in 2016.

Their new show, Hart Island, is about New York City’s public burial ground and was shortlisted for the Kevin Spacey Foundation Artists of Choice award.

Danny holds Bachelors of Arts degrees in Music and Theatre Education from Brigham Young University, and has orchestrated several musicals, including Wind in the Willows and The Ballad of Little Jo.

Michelle’s first play, Promising, was produced off-off Broadway in 2015.

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