STORMÉ: A Musical Play

It took one punch to start a gay revolution. It took one gusty gender-bending lesbian to throw that punch. This is her story!

STORMÉ is a historical play with music by GLAAD Media Award-winning journalist and playwright Carolyn M. Brown, which depicts the life and times of Stormé DeLarverie. The show follows Stormé, who in later years is a beloved bouncer at lesbian bars and a 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. She migrates to Chicago, where she performs as big band singer Stormy Dale, falls in love with a chorus line dancer named Diana, and befriends gay piano virtuoso Billy Strayhorn, composer for Duke Ellington’s Orchestra. Stormé blazes uncharted territory when takes up a Harlem residency as emcee and male impersonator at the Jewel Box Revue (America’s first racially integrated and gay-owned drag show).

Stormé, along with her lover Diana and extended family of friends, exists under constant threat from the NYPD (who harass and arrest anyone not wearing gender appropriate clothing and any queer people gathering in bars) until that fateful day in June of 1969, when she had enough of being under everyone’s thumb.

Stormé is revered for throwing the first punch—or series of punches—at police during the Stonewall Rebellion. The play is generously peppered with songs (jazz standards and original music) to reflect Stormé’s artistic journey from crooner to crusader.

June 2025 marks the 55th Anniversary of the first PRIDE March commemorating the 1969  Stonewall Rebellion. We are honoring this historic NYC Pride milestone with theatrical performances of this Stonewall ICON.

STORMÉ is made possible with support from The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with The New York Foundation for the Arts.