Ready to Explore the Marla Louniverse?
A goddess Reborn
On January 16th, 2022, Marla Lou debuted their bio-cabaret, a soulful combination of stories and songs charting the goddexx’s journey of healing, liberation, and ascension since winning the Jimmy Awards in 2015. Backed by a powerhouse creative team and a full live band, Marla played a sold-out debut show at The Green Room 42.
On July 12th, 2023, Marla Lou shared a 20-minute chapter of their bio-cabaret “A Goddess Reborn: In Pleasure” as part of the 2nd annual Soundstage series at The Wild Project.
Stay tuned for more of the journey to the stage and new dates to catch the transcendent performance in a venue near you!
Film And Theater
Marla's creative journey launched as a youth in extracurriculars at their NYC public schools (PS 166, MS54, and The Beacon School) and dance schools on scholarship (Shuffles Tap and Musical Theater) .
At 17 years old, her professional career launched after winning the Jimmy Award for Best Actress in 2015 for portraying Caroline in Caroline or Change. Since then, Marla has appeared in theaters across the country on tour with Hadestown and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, participated in countless workshops of exciting new works, and is a producer (Theater Producers of Color ‘23) of community oriented works that keep the revolution irresistible beyond the commercial theater landscape.
Modeling
Marla started their modeling journey in 2019 while finishing their computer science degree after leaving the Broadway Tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
Upon their first look into the industry, Marla booked three New York Fashion Week runway shows. Pharaoh has since been featured in publications like Vogue Italia, GROWN Mag, and Mob Journal. Through their freelance modeling work, Marla seeks to uplift and represent designers and artists of the global majority, as well as sustainable brands that align with their views on abolition, Black and indigenous sovereignty, and urgent action.
Claim Our Space Now
In 2020, when social media became the go-to for connection in the uprisings and abolitionist movement work, Marla saw an oversaturation of actions and resources being stored in disparate online locations. Unable to physically protest because of safety concerns and the pandemic, it became clear that there was a need for an online space to support building a movement across the country that would make practicing liberation for our survival accessible and consolidated. Over a 2-month span, they finished their computer science degree, took an AFAM class on affirmative action, and in the semester just before George Floyd’s lynching, Marla boldly took to the internet to share a vision that addressed the core of the problems manifesting through police brutality against Black bodies: white supremacy.
With the power of social media and an intersectional community of folks, Claim Our Space NOW was born to move mobilizations beyond individual cases to dismantle white supremacy and build a culture of community care and action in its place to save all Black and oppressed lives. This work is just as dynamic as its founder, a one-stop-shop for national actions and resources to ritualize and make community care across environmental, queer, reproductive, youth, elders, you name it, accessible.
