Stage Tube: Jonathan Groff Supports Dave Roth's 4th Annual Broadway Alzheimer's iPod Drive

Broadway musician and Alzheimer's Association advocate,Dave Roth, is announcing the launch of the 4th Annual Broadway Alzheimer's iPod Drive starting August 1st and running through August 19th. Dave's mother suffered from Alzheimer's disease and was stripped of awareness and language for the 3 years prior to her death this past December. Now his father suffers from the same disease. He brought his mother her favorite music with the use of an iPod and watched her sing words that he hadn't heard her speak in years.

As the drive continues Broadway stars have provided their own testimony. Below you can catch Hamilton star Jonathan Groff talking about the iPod drive!

Roth was inspired by the Sundance award-winning documentary Alive Inside, which follows the work of Dan Cohenand his organization Music & Memory (www.musicandmemory.org). Dan is a trained social worker with a background in technology and realized there was a perfect marriage to be had with both. "Ten years ago I heard a journalist talking about how iPods are ubiquitous, and I thought well all the kids have them but a lot of us adults don't. My experience in the nursing home didn't seem to show much being done there. And if I were ever in a nursing home would I have access to my favorite 60's music? So I googled iPods and nursing homes, and even though there are over 16,000 nursing homes in the U.S., I couldn't find one that was using iPods for the residents." So he set out to see if this modern technology could be used in a wide spread format.

That's where Roth has stepped in to help. He has reached out to his colleagues onstage and in the pit to help spread the word about this amazing project. "So many people have used iPods sitting in drawers or on the back of their desks and I thought this is the most beautiful recycling program ever. I'm thrilled to have Kristin Chenoweth, Jonathan Groff,Laura Michelle Kelly, John Eric Parker and the cast of many contribute to this year's video."

Participatns may mail or drop off your used iPod, Apple listening device and chargers to:

AFM Local 802

322 West 48th Street, 5th Floor

New York, NY, 10036

or

Broadway Alzheimer's iPod Drive

Alzheimer's Association NYC Chapter

360 Lexington, 4th Floor

New York, NY 10017

For monetary donations and more information please visit www.facebook.com/BroadwayAlzheimersiPodDrive