Your presentation on “Get Lit” was absolutely fabulous! The youth at Edelman Children’s Court were truly inspired and motivated by your ability to breathe life into poetry and literacy in a way that had meaning to them. It was amazing to see their attentiveness to your presentation and also to see them share their knowledge of poetry, reading and performing. The fact that many of our youth were willing to participate in an impromptu poetry reading with your guidance and leave with some very significant tools to improve their personal reading projection styles which will help them in other life areas was very confident building for them and pleasing for our staff who daily work so hard with them. Diane you are an amazingly sensitive instruction who has a keen ability to connect to youth and to find the personal release in them! We so look forward to continued work with “Get Lit”. Continue to share this outstanding program with the youth and others, such as our program!

I liked the performance yesterday it was very inspiring because it taught you a lot about literature…

Poetry was never really my thing, but now because of the way that all you told us, it made me see it a whole different way.

Your performance at Paramount High School was a success to me because each one of you poets inspired me to write poems when I’m alone in the car or when I’m bored. When I heard that a group of teenagers were going to come to our high school I wasn’t looking forward to it. I always thought poetry was boring, but when you guys performed for us Paramount High School students I was speechless.

To tell you the truth I don’t like poems but somehow I like yours.

Your confidence and emotion shown while reciting your poems left me speechless. When it seemed as if you guys were pouring your heart out while reciting your work, I began to think I should do what I enjoy also. With your words, I began to take into consideration that with a bit of effort, great things are produced. Your words, inspiring and motivating, made me believe I should feel free to do what I desire, despite what others think…

…I felt you guys spoke the truth and nothing but the truth, which made it more interesting and inspiring. I was astonished to see how teens, just like me, could be so creative when writing a piece of their unique work. It seemed as if you guys not just connected with me, but with the entire audience, and for that I loved I had the opportunity to be there.

…I think that you were put in the world to inspire people.

Your performance at PHS was the bomb… All those poems seemed like they were knocking on the door of my heart.

My spirit was lifted by the ways you guys showed me how fun poetry can really be!…I know Get Lit touched many people’s hearts and cheered people up… Your performances were outrageous!

Your poems sent shivers down my spine through the whole performance.

Today I was so amazed at the thank you letters my students wrote. They still remembered lines, how Dario’s home didn’t feel like a home, how Jazmine saw wings on a girl, and how sad they felt for some of the words in Brianna’s poem. My kids felt empathy and were willing to admit that poetry could astound and bring people together…The Get Lit Players send out such an aura of delight and confidence as they perform their poems that students and teachers alike cannot help but be drawn in. What an amazing inspiration they are!

When the group Get Lit performed their poems it inspired me a lot to express myself on paper.

Great experience. I love poetry and performing and seeing Get Lit inspired me to start writing poems again.

Your guys performance was outstanding an each one of you was unique and I loved it, you made me want to read poems and express myself artistically.

I really enjoyed the poems it was great having u guys read your original poems they were really good, I like that they were deep they got to me and I know they got to others too.

You guys were great keep it up and represent for LA.

I really enjoyed the poetry and how you can make your own poem out of you life experience.

Hey Get-Lit… I really enjoyed your performance yesterday. The poems all of you shared with us really grasped my attention. I felt the pain and the other emotions that were coming through the poems. It had even inspired me to continue writing poetry again.

I loved your guy’s performance yesterday; it taught me to express my opinions more and emotions rather than keeping them in and letting it all build up into frustration. I now know that poetry can be a problem-solving method. Thank you.

I had a great opportunity watching all you perform, it was a great experience to see something different, it made realize how people use words to express their feelings, one day I might become a poet.

I really enjoyed the poems. The poems were powerful and they spoke the truth… This presentation gave me a respect for poets and there art.

I loved the fact that they used feelings and emotions when they read the poems out loud, it actually gave me the chills when they was talking with such feeling.

The performance was very good! Every poem was full of emotions. I believe every poem made many people open their eyes to see the world differently!

The performance was awesome! You guys inspire me and you guys made me cry.

Thanks for the wonderful performance. Your original poems were moving and powerfully performed. The language and images were stunning and SO TRUE. The poems you performed by other authors were well-chosen! My students were inspired to pay more attention to language and to even write some of their own poetry. You did more in 50 minutes than I can accomplish in a week with the textbook!

Thank you so much for bringing Get lit to Franklin HS. Your students were incredible. I don’t think there has been one group that has performed at my school that has kept my students complete attention. Your kids were talented, original, inspirational and yet approachable. The whole experience was fantastic. Getlit players blended modern and classic poetry seamlessly and allowed my students to see connections between hip hop and Herman Hesse. They invited two of my students to participate and they were so nurturing and reassuring that my students felt comfortable enough to come and share their poetry too. I can’t say enough about what you have created here. I have some students who are interested in auditioning so please let me know about audition dates. Once again Getlit players knocked it out of the park and entertained and educated my often apathetic students. Thanks Getlit, come back as soon as you can.

The Get Lit Performance was amazing. It was something I did not expect it to be. I would love to see them again perform. It was very unique and original. I’m not much of a writer of a poet, but I do know some stuff about literature. I really appreciate that you guys took time to come here and perform.

The poems were fantastic. One of the poems made me reflect and reconsider how I should act towards people.

I enjoyed the poems. I have never really been interested into poetry but yesterday’s performance was great! I liked it because they talked about conflicts us teenagers go through everyday.

I really like all your poems. The one that really spoke to me was “Simone” because when I was in middle school I was one of those girls that used to ignore a girl. It was the best performance.

It opened the world of poetry to me.

I think that hearing your poems made me realize that poetry is not just boring, confusing words, but words that are deep and interesting. It’s soul.

The Get Lit performance was something totally new in my life. I thank you for making me realize the beauty in words. I’ve never even considered poetry before, but now I know I’ll apply it as a part of my life.

…I was able to think about things that seldom crossed my mind before.

Thank you! It was an experience I will never forget. Get Lit inspires me to do so many new things.

I really think that Get Lit’s performances influence the way people think about literature and English because they said things that really matter in the world, but in a way that really catches peoples’ attention and I acknowledge and appreciate that.

Get Lit was nothing short of amazing, you must inspire a lot of teens. I know you have inspired me. I write basically every day now since the performance.

To be honest, I’m not too fond of poetry, but Get Lit has changed my opinion quite a bit. You have also given me the reassurance that I have the potential to change the social environment around me.

I learned that if you are speaking from your heart you can touch people so deeply you can make them cry.

The poetry you guys come up with is epic and mind-blowing. You have inspired me to a great extent. I never knew that expressing yourself through poetry could be so enjoyable.

The students are still talking about the Get Lit performance several weeks later. In fact, several students have approached me to start a poetry/spoken word club at our school. I love it!

Whoa! My students got lit! Thanks so much. My students declared this the best assembly they have seen! Your team was fantastic in every way. Great personalities, talented, easy to work with. I had about 8 students who wanted to perform and more wanted to, once they experienced what was happening. I was so proud of my students, some who were shy, but volunteered anyway, and I had some very talented students, who really appreciated this opportunity. All of them were so proud of themselves to get up and take a chance. I had tears in my eyes-I was so moved. My students were texting other students who weren’t in school today and telling them how great it was! Our principal came over and was equally impressed. Everyone wants them back, so if that’s a possibility, please let me know. You always have a place here!

Loved it… different from anything I’ve ever seen.

Opened my eyes to poetry.

I used to think poetry was boring, but now it has opened my mind.

The Get Lit performance blew my mind and opened my eyes to what is around me.

The performance inspired me to write poetry.

Amazing… poetry is more than nursery rhymes to me now.

Teachers and students alike have been talking about you guys!! They LOVED the performance. I have overheard students talking about the fact that it really made them think about life more deeply… You and your storytellers were a fabulous hit!!! Thank you so much for sprinkling the magic of poetry into our lives.

The performances were very worthwhile and communicated meaningfully with the audience. Thank you for identifying such talents and working so deeply with these students. The messages they convey are profound and important. I am certain that under your guidance they have grown immeasurably and will continue to do so.

They were all so fantastic. I wish we could find funding to have you guys come regularly!

The GetLit Players were phenomenal in their capacity to connect with our students and to engage them in meaningful dialogue about the power of the spoken word. Our students were enraptured by the various voices and styles brought by the GetLit poets, and displayed a rarely seen focus and passion for the presentation. GetLit’s fine balance of approachability and highly refined skills encouraged our budding poets to apply some of the observed techniques in their own nascent poetry.

I think that the poets who came were great. It was amazing to see that there are groups out there to help students who like poetry to fulfill that dream. I think it’s really great that at a young age some students are capable of such great poetry.

I really enjoyed how you showed emotion with your poetry. I really felt something when you were performing.

Something that I enjoyed was when two poets recited a poem at the same time. I also enjoyed the way all of the poets used different literary devices like, rhyme, rhythm, repetition that we had been learning in English.

Your performance got me thinking about Literature.

After a recent Get Lit! performance at the Actors’ Gang the audience wouldn’t leave the lobby. People were talking to each other, finding common ground, sharing which poems touched them. As an audience, we understood each other better through the poets’ experience. This is the magic of theater and the power of poetry.

We were so greatly moved by the work of the Get Lit poets the other morning and Rancho H.S., and we are so grateful to be associated with you, your remarkable program and your talented artists. Looking forward to more opportunities to support the great work you do.

After a recent Get Lit! performance at the Actors’ Gang the audience wouldn’t leave the lobby. People were talking to each other, finding common ground, sharing which poems touched them. As an audience, we understood each other better through the poets’ experience. This is the magic of theater and the power of poetry.

GetLit gets lit. Then they light lit. Then the lit Lit lights — it goes on and on, symbiotic reading, aloud and to one’s self, a whole system that makes “Make It New” new. For the GetLit Players, poetry is space shots into consciousness. Exploration of the solar system and the sacro-cranial system. A manifestation of poetry physicalized, energized, open and ongoing. A Beacon of Language.

There are no other young poets like the Get Lit Players. They take the Great Poems of the past and commit them to heart, then give them back to us – along with their own powerful original responses. The result is a conversation that can change the world.

Watching the Get Lit Players perform my poem, “The Shirt”, beats being poet laureate!

With only a chair as a prop and a simple soundtrack, Diane was able to transport us into a different world – her world. The students were very impressed with her, saying how ‘amazing’ it was to be so taken away and affected by a show in their own classroom.

The work she is doing is literally saving lives.

As the words flowed out of their mouths you couldn’t help but think, ‘this is what I wanna be about!’

I wouldn’t care one bit for poems before (Get Lit) came along & now I just can’t put them down!

The work Get Lit performs within the schools is outstanding. It is an organization dedicated to changing the face of illiteracy in Los Angeles by reaching out to students other organizations overlook. I would strongly recommend the Get Lit Program to any school lucky enough to get it.

The contribution that Get Lit is making to the education of these youths is truly remarkable. If we intend to maintain an enduring interest among our youth in literature and language, we must lend our support to such programs as Get Lit.

Diane made my girls laugh and cry. They were glued to the edge of their seats. They were inspired to read many of the books she mentioned in the show and it caused them to see literacy in a new way.

The students are still talking about you! We all really enjoyed your talent and message about literacy. I loved it when one of my students noticed and commented on how books helped you through the challenging times in your life. It was an important observation for our at-risk students.

The Get Lit Players are altering the lives of thousands of young people. They are tackling the darkness of illiteracy and lighting the way for our youth.

Through my involvement with Get Lit, I am exposed to great writers who challenge me to change my writing style and surprise myself… I only wish I was involved with a program like this earliest so I could have realized the amazing wonders of literature sooner!

I think that when students are allowed to reach such powerful and meaningful literature it helps you understand life a little better.

There are no other young poets like the Get Lit Players. They take the Great Poems of the past and commit them to heart, then give them back to us – along with their own powerful original responses. The result is a conversation that can change the world.

Get Lit has given me the opportunity to be more than me. I am not only a better artist, I’m a teacher, a philanthropist, a literary scholar, and more conscious human being. The directors and the other participants have all been loving and supportive throughout my year in the program. I am leaving to study at Berkley in a few months. It breaks my heart that I have to leave something that has been so positive for me. I cannot stress enough how important being a part of the Get Lit Players has been in my life.

Diane Luby Lane, ‘that chick who can act’ is an inspiration to students and teachers.

I am deeply grateful to you for sharing your gripping story with my students, for taking such a compassionate interest in their own stories, and for working with me to execute a brilliant program.

Seeing Deep Sea Diving has the power to change lives. Diane Luby Lane beautifully (and with great humor) illustrates the unique ability of the most simple act – reading – to blast open entire new worlds. The perfect antidote to a youth culture weaned on television, computers and video games.

Diane’s play, Deep Sea Diving was performed brilliantly… a theatrical ensemble of various characters… Her sharp biting wit made it enjoyable to watch… It’s about books, how they influenced her life and their importance and their place in our lives. Wow, what an achievement! Bravo Diane. Onward with the work you are doing.

FUN TO WATCH! When Lane tells her story, it’s a book coming to life, and it’s one that’s worth reading!

A winsome solo show… ADORABLE… and INGENIOUS!

A performance of deep gratitude and good humor. THE PLAY WORKED ITS MAGIC ON ME!