City Mitten

Last night was the premiere for Hilla Medalia’s After the Storm, which I was lucky to attend. It’s about a group of young people in New Orleans working together on a musical (Once on this Island – about a hurricane, no less) two years after Hurricane Katrina with the help of Broadway professionals James Lecesne and Gerry McIntyre.

I’m not a huge fan of media coverage during catastrophes like that one, so seeing a real person, who is like 16, tell the story about how they were stuck in the second floor of an apartment for three days, or have them give you a walk-through tour of what is left of their old house as well as the places they are living in now was totally heart-breaking. They talked about family members and friends they no longer see and no longer even know where they are. With a story like that, how can I ever have something to complain about? These people lost everything and they aren’t getting it back any time soon.

In the end, though, the story was really heart-warming and triumphant. You watched them put this musical together in six weeks, all through the ups and downs and frustrations, drama on stage and off, and what we got in the end was truly beautiful.

After putting on the musical in New Orleans, the kids were invited to perform the play on Broadway in New York, on the original stage it was first performed. My friend Joe played bass during those performances (which were also in the documentary) and that’s why I was at the premiere in the first place. Some of the kids were there, too, and they talked a little bit after the film about their lives now since the making of the documentary and musical and it was truly inspiring.

After the Storm is at the MoMa through the end of the week and I have no doubt it will be picked up by something else after that.

See this.