The face behind the makeup: How Lacy Knightly cures Portland’s craving for burlesque

Published 5:00 am Wednesday, May 28, 2025

By Hannah Seibold

If Lacy Knightly asked their younger self what they thought of them today, they’d say: “I’m proud of you for taking the time to find ourself.”

“Burlesque pushed me way into the stratosphere,” Knightly said of its impact on finding their identity. “It wasn’t a catalyst, but it was like a rocket booster.”

Nick Lacy, also known as Lacy Knightly, who uses they/them pronouns, founded Lacy Productions, a Portland-based production company for sex-, body- and queer-positive burlesque shows.

They said they love that burlesque can encompass all shapes, sizes and colors. Knightly explained that burlesque is an umbrella term for all types: boylesque, draglesque, nerdesque, metalesque and so on.

Classic moves, like taking off a glove dramatically, can be applied to other themes, such as a welder slowly pulling off a working glove. Knightly explained that it’s all a part of the revival of burlesque.

“Burlesque is the art of the tease with a political history that stems from parody,” Knightly said when asked to describe the genre in a sentence.

Mismonsta performs on Friday, May 16, for the “Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love: A Burlesque Tribute to Moulin Rouge,” show in Portland. (Jaime Valdez/Portland Tribune)

Growing up

Knightly was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago until the age of 12 before their family moved to Southern California, where they attended middle and high school. Later, Knightly studied at Pepperdine University to become an elementary school teacher.

Knightly described their family as the type of Catholics who celebrated Easter and Christmas, so the religious aspect growing up was oppressive, but not “ultra.”

Pepperdine University, a Catholic school, was picked by Knightly for its proximity to the beach, its liberal arts offerings and small population.

“I hated the conservative part of it, but then I found my people,” Knightly said.

Their people were the creatives, the ones working in television or communications, but Knightly continued on becoming a teacher.

Knightly worked as a teacher for 16 years. They taught kindergarten through third grad, and to no surprise, produced many of the school talent shows.

A master’s graduate in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, Knightly wrote picture books for children while teaching. Some of their poetry work was published, but that was all.

Nick Lacy and The Historical Conjurer get ready on Friday, May 16, for the “Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love: A Burlesque Tribute to Moulin Rouge,” show in Portland. (Jaime Valdez/Portland Tribune)

Trek to Portland

Knightly and their partner moved to Portland in 2006.

“We always wanted to leave. It felt stifled in Southern California,” Knightly said. “Plus, we just love seasons.”

With the appeal of accessible cityscapes, mountain ranges, beaches and more, Portland sucked their family in. They needed something that wasn’t a “concrete jungle.”

Upon first impression, the couple loved Portland. The “Keep Portland Weird” concept won their hearts. Knightly described their move as freeing, allowing them to discover their true creative side.

At 38 years old, Knightly watched their first burlesque show in Portland. Though, at 13 years old their parents took them on a trip to Las Vegas, where Knightly gawked over the Siegfried & Roy showgirls.

“I would just pour over the program guide about loving their costumes, and, you, know, them too,” Knightly explained of their teen self.

That was their first instance experiencing a form of burlesque before ever seeing a show.

It was about 6 p.m. on a Wednesday night when Knightly took their seat for the “sip and strip” show; Knightly was hooked. They loved it so much they talked to the performers afterwards.

“At 38, it was maybe midlife crisis mixed with, ‘I want to write about this and try it out,’ like a bucket list sort of thing,” Knightly said.

Billie McBride practices their act on Friday, May 16, for the “Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love: A Burlesque Tribute to Moulin Rouge,” show in Portland. (Jaime Valdez/Portland Tribune)

Blossoming into burlesque

It didn’t take long for Knightly to take up one of the performer’s suggestions to join a 10-week program, where they would learn history, costuming, makeup, group routines and more.

The program was pricey, so Knightly slowly saved up over two years, attending a few shows in the meantime, before joining the class in 2014.

“Growing up in a really repressed household, I was going through a lot of transitions with exploring my own sexuality,” Knightly explained. “It all came to a head.”

Knightly is a draglesque artist under the name “Nick Lacy,” and a burlesque artists under the name “Lacy Knightly.” These are their two personas on stage.

Performing almost immediately after completing their course, Knightly landed gigs about once per month and would help out at other shows.

Two years later, Knightly launched their solo act as Nick Lacy. The name comes from themself, born Nicole, which is a name they said they always hated.

Their nickname growing up was Nick or Nikki, even their dad started calling them Nick in elementary school.

Nick Lacy claps for the other acts on Friday, May 16, for the “Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love: A Burlesque Tribute to Moulin Rouge,” show in Portland. (Jaime Valdez/Portland Tribune)

Launching Lacy Productions

Knightly knew a writer in one of their writing groups, Amber Keyser, who was releasing a book about first-time sex. Knightly said Keyser asked them to help her with her book launch, suggesting a combination of reading aloud and burlesque performance.

They agreed, but there was one piece missing: Knightly had never produced burlesque at that point.

This was the birth of their infamous “Booklover’s Burlesque” series in 2016.

Despite being packed into Crush Bar like sardines, Knightly said the crowd loved it and craved more.

“I wanted to keep going. I just thought of so many possibilities. There’s billions of books in the world,” Knightly described of their first production night.

Knightly stopped teaching around 2018 and went full-fledged producer and artistic director.

Their ideas stem from what they would want to see on the stage. Shows include spin-offs of “Saturday Night Live,” “Frozen,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Moulin Rouge” and more.

The goal: produce shows that are sex-, body- and queer-positive, and are inclusive and diverse.

“We need to talk about everything right now and put it out there,” Knightly explained. “My shows, burlesque itself, has always been a political art form.”

Since starting performing and producing, Knightly has traveled across the world to attend festivals, to perform in one-off shows, to teach and more.

Whether it’s the local Alberta Rose Theatre or one down the street from the Eiffel Tower, Knightly continues to love giving space to marginalized performers to share their art.

“I just want to push that we’re a place that people can come where you can be yourself, where you’re gonna see yourself on the stage and feel welcome in a place that’s not repressed,” Knightly said.

Fun fact: France was Knightly’s favorite place to perform because of the 15 bottles of champagne and gargantuan charcuterie board they were offered.

Find more at lacyproductions.org.

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