Mikki Gillette's Riot Queens Requires Us to Read More Queer History This story of trans liberation takes place around the 1966 Compton Cafeteria Riot, but it's not an explainer. HOLLY HAZELWOOD Left to right: Bryn Bollimpalli, Ethan Feider, and Nineveh de la Luz Herrera in Riot Queens. HOLLY HAZELWOOD

🎭 The 5 weeks or so I was with the show were some of the proudest n happiest I’ve ever had. They will never be forgotten, nor the lessons I take away. #Acting #TransWoman #Theater #NiniJourney #RIOTQUEENS #Trans #Queer #LGBTQ #QueerHistory #ComptonCafeteriaRiots #Resistance #TransNews

On one of our soft launch/preview days a photographer was onset capturing scenes. This is one of my favorites where Dixie visits Haley‘s room and attempts to reconnect, but of course with Dixie she can’t leave her “fight for justice and equality“ energy/talk away… Which is always triggering to Haley, a victim of deep trauma who now fears any change or disruption.

In scene 4 I appear only in a camisole. The day a photographer was there I’d forgot my wig, n also wore the bra underneath (doesn’t look right). I had it on initially bcz there’s little time but now I am adjusting my routine to have proper costume on/off. #RIOTQUEENS #Acting #Theater #Queer #History

NINEVEH in the green room with the rest of the cast

🦎GREEN ROOM!! 30 to house! See u at curtain! #Acting #Actor #Actress #Theater #Portland #RIOTQUEENS

Headed out to perform for the matinee show! Maybe I see you there, #Portland! 🎭 #Theatre #Actor #Actress #PortlandOregon #PDX #TransWoman #Transgender #Trans #RIOTQUEENS

NINEVEH at top of scene 1 waiting to go out & make her first appearance about one page into the script.

🎭I have NO time in between scene 3 n 4 to change; I was knocking onna door (top of scene), only moments from walking onstage, n still struggling to take my bra out of my sleeve. Hilarious. My scene partner was already talking, opening the door n I was still trying to pull it off. #Acting #RIOTQUEENS

An edited photo of a counter in Portland with all kinds of flyers up, which has been desaturated to highlight the RIOT QUEENS poster, still in color

🎭 Omg so exhausted. Full house tonight! That was wiiiild! I guess, since we didn’t have a big promotional blitz that went on n on, the gradual social media exposure is reaching more people. I am so tired. N we have a matinee show tomorrow. Going up to bed soon. #RIOTQUEENS #Acting #Theater #Portland

Ready to go out, it’s NINEVEH in the blue light that illuminates the area we wait to go out on stage usually looking at scripts or just psyching ourselves up in our own individual ways.

🎭13 minutes until curtain! #RIOTQUEENS #Theatre #Portland

i replaced my profile photo w a cast photo taken opening night, which includes our director, Harper York! (large blonde on my left.) I have SO much respect for her. As a woman, a human, a director, an artist, n a trans woman. I’m grateful I moved on the audition. It was life-changing. #RIOTQUEENS

Characters Dixie (played by NINEVEH de la Luz Herrera), and Haley (played by Ethan Feider), at Compton‘s Café, from the new play RIOT QUEENS

❤️‍🔥🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🎭 PORTLAND, OREGON! Come see Mikki Gillette‘s new play on San Francisco’s Tenderloin district’s all #trans women led anti-police actions in 1966: #RIOTQUEENS!!! #Theatre #PDX #Portland #Transgender #TransWoman #NiniJourney #FuseTheatre #LGBTQ #Queer #Art #Community #Photography #Actor #Actress

09:15 RiOT Queen NINEVEH @nineveh-aka-nini.bsky.social Edit Profile (Photo of the promo poster, or one of them, on the back door of the theater. This is a full color shot, it includes the title, you can see the door lock, and the weathered quality of the paint; it does have a nice feel of the entire photo… Our faces are not really legible, but I do like it for how it captures the entire setting.

Photo of the promo poster, or one of them, on the back door of the theater. This is sepia toned .

Photo of the promo poster, or one of them, on the back door of the theater. This one’s a little more close-up, but harder to tell what we are looking at aside from a printed photo of three people. But I might choose this one. Just for the detail.

Once I get the cast photo taken at the end of opening (last) night, I will probably replace it… But meanwhile, do u like one of these better than the others? #Acting #Actor #Actress #Portland #PDX #TransWoman #TransActress #Feeder #RIOTQUEENS

Nineveh, Thank you for your work and dedication to Riot Queens! You've Shown Dixie to be a force of nature. Happy Opening, and have a great Run! Harper

🎭 A note from Harper York, our director. #Acting #Actor #Actress #Theater #Portland #NiniJourney #HarperYork #RIOTQUEENS

NINEVEH with two bouquets of flowers hair looking a tiny bit messy, and a big smile of course… Even though she wants to just collapse right where she stands

23:29. Home, exhausted, opening night was fantastic. I don’t have energy to write much. But trust me I will have plenty to write, it was amazing. Gonna put on tea n get comfy, quick shower, pajamas, maybe I will have more energy after I take a quick shower, eat something n get in bed. #RIOTQUEENS

ENTER THROUGH COFFE: HOP RidI Queen March 529 4319 SE Hawthorne BIvd Entry behind common Grounds Coffeehouse www.fusetheatreensemble.com THEATRE ENSEMBLE

🎭 NOW PLAYING !!! exclusively in PORTLAND, OREGON ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #Theatre #Portland #PortlandOregon #PDX #Trans #TransGender #RIOTQUEENS

In the green room, shortly before going out on stage, NINEVEH applies eyeliner in the mirror

Awake n calm. Thinking about later…the hush, the crowd, n noise that fades when lights go down. The green room, n waiting for the moment I walk out in those lights n deliver my first line in Scene 1…OPENING NIGHT.

We aren’t meeting to rehearse early today. We all want time to ourselves. #RIOTQUEENS

The barista who sees me almost every day when I show up for rehearsal at the theater he works at common grounds Café), was cooing over my big plated gold colored chest piece that dives down deep (cleavage opportunity is almost always a requirement for my shirts n dresses!!), n then asked me about opening night. I told him it was March 5. (I appreciate the ramping up, as we've had a soft launch for newspaper article writers, n a photographer; n tonight was preview night, where in the crowd was the head of the theater organization who sent me the contract to sign. (He said the show was "awesome!" Both of these were higher pressure than any rehearsal we've had, with different rules than rehearsal. (you cannot call for "line," and you cannot stop, you can only improv forward if you forget. I asked him, "Do you have your tickets yet?" n he said something friendly n affirming, while smiling, n making a coffee drink-I don't remember what—n out of nowhere, just feeling friendly as I tore open my raw sugar packets to dump into my Americano, I found myself cutting in with a smirk n saying, "My birthday is the sixth," (I'm pretty sure I was channeling Dixie), n he looked up quick n said "O really?" n l heard myself say, "I expect flowers." He smiled back n laughed. "I'm working on it!" Ha!!! Watch out. Fame is gonna make me toooooo bold.

🎭 Lil story for ya 💃🏽 Now time to go upstairs n 4 bed… It’s almost 2 AM n I have *actual* opening night tomorrow! All good all good, that wolverine blood sees me through. Beauty sleep, here I come! #NiniJourney #Trans #TransWoman #Acting #Actor #Actress #RIOTQUEENS #Portland #PDX #Theater #Coffee

Glowing.

In brief notes, personal ones, Harper (Harper York, the (fantastic) Director for this project, who is flying home after opening night, back to the East Coast) reminded me not to fix costume elements in scene, then added:

“Scene 5.”

Looked up. Smiled.

“Crushed it.”

#RIOTQUEENS

Tonight was amazing. Another important “soft launch” night. The best our play has felt. We learn lines better n better. U can’t give yr true performance until u stop having 2 recall lines. Once they’re always there? U can focus on feeling, delivery. The drama rises, exponentiall #Acting #RIOTQUEENS

In the mirror in my dressing room in the green room before the play

🎭 Showtime!! #RIOTQUEENS #Theatre #PDX #Portland

There she is. Soon the world will know her name. Maybe not after this play but not much longer after. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️NINEVEH DE LA LUZ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Exhausting. Official opening night is in two days but tomorrow is preview night so we will have a crowd. Here we go!!! Right now I just need to eat n get into something comfortable. I feel like I’ve been dragged 100 miles. #Trans #TransWoman #MimiJourney #Actress #Actor #Portland #PDX #RIOTQUEENS

OK, early start. Rest of week until Thursday is hard-core rehearsal bcz yeah. Gonna cook up my BEC, Espresso, start rehearsing the scene in my mind, shower, dress, run lines myself, run lines run lines, get w Ethan n Bryn, rehearse rehearse; then full dress rehearse w cast—until 10 PMish #RIOTQUEENS

a little girl is sitting at a table eating a bowl of food with the words me tomorrow written on the bottom ALT: a little girl is sitting at a table eating a bowl of food with the words me tomorrow written on the bottom

💃🏽few things sweeter
than being blocked
immediately after
people who don’t like u
see the promo
for your major role
in a hot new play🎭

#RIOTQUEENS

🎭 Been onna script heavy since getting home anoche—this is how I pull in the homestretch. This is how I get the straight A’s. This is how I make sure anyone who sees my work doesn’t forget it. Recorded it, I’ll play it in the shower too n then I’m back to it. MORNING!!! #RIOTQUEENS #Actor #Actress

My own mirror and table in the green room with my name on a Post-it

🎭 OK, I’m calling at 11:25. I’ve been drilling the script, got through chapter scene six. I am fried. I’m doing all I can n I’m gonna pull this in. Highly anxious about it! I’m so excited… Being in that story, in that stage light, it’s beautiful. #RIOTQUEENS #Acting

🔥❤️‍🔥🎭🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ It’s HAPPENING. March 5 - March 29. At the Backdoor Theater in #PORTLAND Oregon!! #RIOTQUEENS Presented by Fuse Theater, starring Nineveh de la Luz as DIXIE| Ethan Feider as HALEY | Bryn Bollimpalli as NINA ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #Theater #PDX #Queer #Trans

🎟️ www.fusetheatreensemble.com/event-detail...

My script is open with my lines highlighted, some pens in the spiral binder and tabs for dividing scenes. I learned through this first of plays that u better get that script into tight organization on day one. Hindrances accumulate n stack from the smallest things like not having the holes punched, or not having your lines highlighted or when you come into a scene. U can’t play it loose. Also, my ADHD brain is providing a challenge! All the more reward when it’s finally nailed tight.

🎭 If u wanna work, u have to do the work. Gonna be hittin the script hard for the next couple days n nights bcz I’m not where I want to be w memorization. I’ll get it. #RIOTQUEENS #Acting #Actor #Actress #Theater #Portland #TransWoman

a little girl is hanging upside down on a swing in a park Alt: a little girl is hanging upside down on a swing in a park

I am so ridiculously exhausted. N now I realize how tiring this entire month of March is gonna be. We did two full runs of the play today, w fight scenes n one run in full dress rehearsal. The amount of focus concentration n energy is massive. #Acting #RIOTQUEENS #Theater

It’s my table in the green room!

That’s me!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #RIOTQUEENS #Actress #Actor #Acting #Theater #Portland #GreenRoom #NiniJourney

In the basement, a crustpunk band was playing! I joined in as singer for one song, n then hopped on the glockenspiel. 😆🤣 All after we handed out all our #RIOTQUEENS flyers! It was SO fun to talk to alla them about the play! To talk to #trans women about #queer theater? I’m telling u. PEAK experience

NINEVEH in the bathroom at common grounds Café

🎭SO drained of energy after rehearsal I barely had time to brew a cup of tea n drink 1/3 of it before I passed out. Then, I woke up at 1 AM! So I had a big bowl of sherbet, n another cup of tea. Might write a brief post on tonight’s rehearsal. N then, back to sleep! #RIOTQUEENS #Transgender #Actress

Our excited NINEVEH

✨🎭✨ YOOOO! Here we go! Time for rehearsal! #RIOTQUEENS #Transgender #Theater #Portland #PortlandOregon #Trans #TransWoman #LGBTQ #FuseTheater #Queer #Acting #Actress #TransActress #History #Civilrights #Actor #Play #ComptonCafeteriaRiots #TransHistory