It took one gusty genderbending
lesbian to throw that punch.
A Musical Play by Carolyn M. Brown
STORMÉ
SUPPORT THE SHOW
SUPPORT THE SHOW
STORMÉ the musical play is an intense, important and inspirational new work that fills a significant gap in LGBTQ+ history. Help bring this timely and relevant show to life on the main stage so that we can share this powerful story with even more people.
STORMÉ is a dramatization of a true story and real events about the legendary entertainer Stormé DeLarverie. A big band singer (aka Stormy Dale) in the ‘40s, she was one of a handful of women to lead their own orchestra. She became all the rage as emcee and a male impersonator at the infamous Jewel Box Revue (America’s first racially integrated and gay-owned touring drag cabaret). Stormé is revered for throwing the first punch—or series of punches—at police during the Stonewall Rebellion. Her scuffle with the NYPD in 1969 during a raid at the Stonewall Inn marked a watershed moment for Gay Rights.
This show pulls no punches in showing rarely depicted details about the Stonewall Rebellion. Engaging and entertaining, it’s peppered with music (jazz standards and original songs) to reflect Stormé and her performance family’s artistic journey and desire to combat oppression.
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Join us in honoring Stormé DeLarverie's legacy impact on history. Your donation will help in the development of a theatrical production. All donations be it $10 or $100 are tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, Theater Resources Unlimited.
For donations of $1,500 or more, you will be listed as a True Colors Project Associate Producer in all marketing materials and the playbill, and other benefits including reserved VIP seating, exclusive invitations to industry events, cocktail parties, and other private showings, private meetings with the cast and industry professionals, as well as exclusive merchandise from STORMÉ and other participating LGBTQ+ owned businesses.
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We believe that art can be a powerful force for change, and we're committed to using our platform to raise awareness for issues that matter.
To learn more about partnership opportunities, please contact us at team@mytruecolorsproject.org
THE PLAY’S ORIGIN
STORMÉ is the Rosa Parks of the Gay Rights Movement.
The idea for STORMÉ was sparked by a photo essay written by GLAAD Media Award-Winning journalist Carolyn M. Brown. Titled “Thank You Stormé” (for throwing the first punch at Stonewall), it accompanied a mural of Stormé DeLaverie by artist Rachel Wilkins for her “Shoulders of Giants” 30-piece mixed-media exhibit of LGBTQ+ movement icons and trailblazers. A fire burned deep from inside Carolyn to tell Stormé’s story after historical and cultural content came under relentless attack.
More than half a century since the Stonewall Rebellion, gains that were made are dwindling as LGBTQ+ rights continue to be stripped away. Across America, hate groups, anti-LGBTQ+ laws, drag culture hostility, transphobia, DEI attacks, and book bans in public schools and libraries, particularly titles representing LGBTQ+ and BIPOC voices and experiences, continue to rise alarmingly at record levels.
“Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it!”
HERSTORY IN THE MAKING
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Stormé takes us on a journey that begins with her upbringing in New Orleans as a child of mixed race, learning to fight for herself and her identity. She is performing in Chicago as a Big Band vocalist under the stage name Stormy Dale when she befriends Billy Strayhorn, a gay pianist/composer for Duke Ellington’s Orchestra. She falls in love with a chorus line dancer, Diana, and slowly sheds her girly persona in defiance of local crossdresser laws, working alongside mobsters—The Outfit.
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An encounter with Doc Benner and Danny Brown, gay owners of the racially integrated Jewel Box Revue drag cabaret, leads her to embark on a national tour, and to take up a Harlem residency, as emcee and a male impersonator—billed as 25 men and 1 girl. Now performing as Stormé DeLarverie, she forms a paternal bond with female illusionist Billy Daye—called the male Billie Holiday. Celebrities like Sammy Davis Jr. are regular customers of the JBR. In the midst of JBR’s widespread popularity, Stormé’ and her extended family of friends exist under constant threat from the NYPD, who harass and arrest crossdressers under the guise of violating masquerade laws.
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Battles with the police, who harass and arrest crossdressers and gays gathering in bars under mandate of the NY State Liquor Authority, erupts in 1969 during a raid at the Stonewall Inn. Stormé’s scuffle with police along with other rebels last some six days, ushering in the Modern Gay Rights Movement. This momentous moment also marks her transition from crooner to crusader. A beloved bar bouncer, she patrolled the streets at night well into her ‘80s. Self-proclaimed “Sheriff of the West Village,” Stormé is a defender of marginalized communities over her lifetime.
PRODUCTION
HISTORY
Showcase/Reading—Virtual, June 2022
Workshop Production—WOW Café Theater, NYC, October 2022
Stage Reading—NJ Theatre Alliance Stages Festival, Art House Productions, Jersey City, NJ, May 2023
Stage Reading—Playwrights Horizons Downtown/Robert Moss Theater, NYC, October 2023
Developmental Production—ICONS Festival, American Theater of Actors, NYC, June 2025
OUR MISSION & INTENTION
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Stormé DeLarverie’s story was diminished. And that's by design. For too long, the narratives of queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latino, and gender-expansive people have been suppressed, silenced, and erased. That's why it's so important to tell stories like Stormé's that celebrate our history, our identity, and our resilience. By sharing these stories, we honor the struggles and sacrifices of those who came before us and inspire a new generation to continue the “good fight.”
By supporting our musical play about Stormé DeLarverie, you are not just supporting the arts, you are supporting the preservation of our stories and the affirmation of our collective humanity. Together, we can ensure that these stories are never erased again. When we preserve our stories, we preserve ourselves.
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Vulnerable communities are facing heightened systemic threats as a result of escalating attacks on DEI, coupled with an onslaught of state bills seeking to restrict LGBTQ+ rights. These measures alarmingly target transgender individuals. There have been attempts to ban drag and criminalize female impersonators. For me this hearkens back to unjust practices that led up to the Stonewall Rebellion of 1969 which galvanized the Gay Rights Movement. Police arrests of people not wearing what was considered as gender appropriate clothing was under the guise of violating the masquerade law, while police raids on bars serving LGBTQ+ patrons, who were deemed as disorderly by their mere presence, was under order of the New York State Liquor Authority.
In part, this is why I wrote my musical play STORMÉ. I wanted to pay homage to the life of Stormé DeLarverie, the Stonewall Rebellion icon and male impersonator at the infamous Jewel Box Revue, America’s first racially integrated and gay-owned touring drag cabaret. But I also wanted to acknowledge historical events pertaining to LGBTQ+ people and marginalized communities, because I believe in the adage “those who fail to learn from history” or “those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.”
History is indeed repeating itself. LGBTQ+ people are under attack and threat of being banned from public view. I am speaking also to the growing number of state bills restricting what schools can teach about American history, race, politics, sexual orientation, and gender identity, which increased 250% from 2021 to 2022, reports PEN America. Since 2021, PEN has reported nearly 23,000 book bans in U.S. public schools, predominantly titles that depict LGBTQ+ and BIPOC stories and experiences.
Parents who support gender-affirming care for their transgender children are being characterized as child abusers, with states lawmakers threatening punishment. Law enforcement is just that, the enforcement of laws be they just or unjust. My concern, my fear is that we are heading toward an era of police arrests and brutality of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC people for violating laws meant to erode our cultural heritage and erase our history in attempt to eradicate our existence in America.
About the Creator
Carolyn M. Brown
Carolyn M. Brown is an award-winning journalist, features writer, magazine editor, non-fiction author, playwright, and a producer. She received the 2012 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Magazine Article, “Black & Gay In Corporate America” (Black Enterprise). As founder/principal of the social enterprise True Colors Project, she piloted My True Colors Festival: Fighting For Social Justice and Cultural Diversity Through The Arts (MTCF), an annual event. For nearly a decade, MTCF showcased the works of independent artists of varying backgrounds across multiple disciplines. Carolyn was one of the youngest playwrights to have a staged reading at the Schomburg Center for Research In Black Culture with her play Accessories and has co-written and produced Equity Showcases and Off-Off Broadway productions. STORMÉ is a pivotal moment in speaking her truth. Gay Black civil rights activist Bayard Rustin said, “we need in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers.” Carolyn lives by that mantra.
