NYC Premier: 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 musical play that dramatizes the true life story of lesbian shero 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 a big band singer (aka Stormy Dale) and falls in love with a chorus line dancer named Diana.  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 and extended family of friends, exists under constant threat from the NYPD (who harass and arrest anyone not wearing gender appropriate clothing and any queers 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.

This NYC Premier of STORMÉ at the ATA Sargent Theatre honors the 55^th Anniversary of the first PRIDE protest march to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion. This production is a 2024 NYC Women’s Fund recipient.