It took one punch to start a gay revolution.

It took one gender-bending lesbian to throw that punch. This is her story!

I am thrilled and humbled to be named a 2024 NYC Women’s Fund recipient by Made In New York and the New York Foundation for the Arts. STORMÉ the musical play is one of 72 projects to receive funding through the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre, a groundbreaking initiative from The City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment that has targeted the underrepresentation and equity challenges that women have historically faced in the media and entertainment industries.  It was a photo essay that inspired me to write a historical play based on the true-life story of Stormé DeLarverie, a biracial big band singer, male impersonator, and Stonewall Rebellion icon. In 2020, I was asked to write a personal essay by mixed media artist Rachel Wilkins as a part of her “Shoulders of Giants” exhibit of LGBTQ+ icons and trailblazers. Titled “Thank You Stormé,” the photo essay accompanied Rachel’s mural of Stormé. In the wake of rising attacks on stories representing BIPOC and LGBTQ+ experiences and voices, I wanted to write play that honors the sacrifices of those who came before us and inspires a new generation to continue the “good fight."

”STORMÉ is a play with live music dramatizing the legendary life of Stormé DeLarverie, revered for throwing the first punch—or series of punches—at police during the Stonewall Rebellion. Much like Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955 played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement, Stormé’s scuffle with the NYPD in 1969 during a raid at the Stonewall Inn was a watershed moment for Gay Rights. The show follows Stormé́, who in later years is a beloved bouncer at lesbian bars and guardian patrolling New York City's West Village. Her journey begins growing up in the Jim Crow South as a biracial child learning to fight for her identity and traveling as a big band singer under the stage name Stormy Dale. She befriends gay piano virtuoso Billy Strayhorn, composer for Duke Ellington’s Orchestra, and later joins the Jewel Box Revue (America’s first racially-integrated and gay-owned drag show) as a male impersonator and emcee—billed 25 men & 1 girl. Now living in Harlem, Stormé along with her lover Diana and extended family of friends exist under constant threat from the NYPD (harassed and arrested for cross-dressing and congregating in bars) until that fateful day she had enough of being under everyone's thumb. At its core, STORMÉ is story about love, friendship, and unbridled resilience in the face of oppression.