As post-production on WIL DARCANGELO AND THE TRIBE continues onward, it’s easy to slip into an attitude that’s all about efficiency and procedure. While rooting through our files, though, we came across a number of beat-up polaroids that reminded us of the magic that was being on set with Wil and Lavender. So we thought we’d share:

When looking for a location to sit down and interview Wil, he brought us to a beautiful little theater space they had been renovating.

Wil Darcangelo — image by Kourtney Katanich (GHP)

“The number one question that I ask everybody — regardless of their age,” says Wil, “is what they want to be when they grow up. Because that is an intentionality… And sometimes they laugh, especially if they are anything past the age of twenty-one, and say, ‘I’m already grown up!’

And that’s not true. You’re not done growing up until you’re done growing altogether. You’re not done until you’re dead. So if you want to be something still, what are you doing towards that? I guess I would hope to be an influence on people by asking that question, that it would trigger something in them to make them curious. ‘What do I want to be when I grow up, and then how do I get there?’ And, when I see other people becoming what they truly want to be, that I would never have thought to be capable of it, what does that say about me and what I’m capable of?”

We also had the pleasure of sitting with Lavender Bell in the park where her fathers were married. Her energy and enthusiasm was infectious.

Lavender Bell after her interview — image by Kourtney Katanich (GHP)

“My biggest dream is to become a famous singer. I started singing way before I learned how to talk — that’s what people have told me, and I don’t remember that, but I do remember having daydreams of performing on stage, and performing on TV, and being on CD. I would have these fantasies late at night in my bedroom every night…

I joined [the Tribe] and it has changed my life because not only I realized that, yes, you can follow your dreams cause this not some typical everyday miracle. The Tribe has finally made me see my worth.”

Wil Darcangelo after his interview — image by Kourtney Katanich (GHP)

We were able to sit with Wil and reflect on the Tribe and their Times Square performance.

“That expression ‘if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere’ in New York City. None of us have actually said that phrase, but we’re very much aware of the fact that the city’s pretty harsh, that it doesn’t suffer fools, and it certainly doesn’t suffer bad performances. But being there, seeing ourselves through the eyes of an audience who were strangers to us, I know that had changed the kids because they were being accepted for exactly who they are.”

Well, we’re inspired. Keep an ear to the ground for more information on this documentary and other projects from the GHP on our blog or facebook page. All good things ahead.

A big thanks from all of us at the Gay Hero Project goes out to everyone working to make this short happen: Wil & Jamie Darcangelo, Deb Perry Demazure, the Tribe, and the GHP team so generous with their time (Jeremy Kingwill, Ryan Chatel, and Kevin Dynia — to name a few).

For more short documentaries and creative works from the GHP, check out GHP Presents