Some of the imagery Dreamentia has created for the Still Standing project.

Local writer helps Katrina victims with a heart-felt story for the stage.

Until August of 2005, New Orleans was a vibrant city stocked with more than enough beauty for the remaining 49 States of America. The French Quarter was puffing out its chest, proudly displaying the city’s awe-inspiring history. The restaurants and bars on Bourbon Street were pumping out jazz and mouth-watering cuisine. And the population of natives and tourists were entranced by pure joy.

But Mother Nature, who must’ve grown tired of the masquerade, wasn’t as fond of the sights and sounds. And thus, on August 23, Hurricane Katrina crossed the line that separates the ocean and the land, on a mission that rendered New Orleans colorless and rather deformed.

However, the people of New Orleans, strong as they are, weren’t going down without a fight.

Well documented by news services everywhere was the poor response time of the United States government. And in fact, U.S. citizens – good Samaritans from the other 49 states – were the ones who dropped everything and fled immediately to the aid of those who were stuck in a drowning city.

It was their support that helped shoulder the initial burden.

While some immediately jumped in their trucks and drove to help the locals migrate to a safer haven, others, like Los Angeles writer Shyla Marlin, began conceptualizing creative projects to help raise money for the reincarnating efforts of New Orleans.

Marlin, a USC alum, is now set to produce Still Standing, a play she wrote about a relationship that grows between two girls amidst the Katrina aftermath. Hands On New Orleans [“HONO”], an outreach organization that inspires and motivates people to meet critical community needs, has agreed to become the project’s fiscal sponsor.

[HONO’s] mission spoke to the abundant vision I have for this planet,” Marlin said. “I personally believe it’s valuable to contribute to an organization with an affirmative standpoint.”

A fiscal sponsor is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization that acts as an aid for a project that doesn’t have its own tax-exempt status. Grants or contributions are made to the fiscal sponsor who manages the funds.

But before Marlin could even contact HONO, she had to hurdle her own doubts.

“The hardest thing about getting started was just accepting the idea that, ‘If you can conceive it, you can achieve it,’” Marlin added. “Once I got out of my own way and surrendered to the first step in the process, the next part showed up easily.”

After she completed the script and budget, she called upon Dreamentia Creative Laboratories, a Los Angeles-based agency, to help her design the pitch packet. This packet is being used to help her fund the Still Standing project, which includes rehearsal time and the theater’s rental cost.

And while Marlin continues to gather these funds, the victims of New Orleans are continuing to rebuild their beloved city. To learn more about Still Standing, or how you can get involved with Hands On New Orleans’, please visit: 

www.stillstandingtheplay.com 

www.handsonneworleans.org

By working together, the spirit of New Orleans can be restored. Just like its vibrant beauty.