NANCY CHERYLL DAVIS

Nancy Cheryll Davis (she/her) is a critically acclaimed and award winning actress, director, producer and co-founder of the Towne Street Theatre (TST). She is an alumnus of the American Conservatory Theatre and Director’s Lab West and the Founding Artistic/Producing Director of Towne Street Theatre, where she has executive-produced all shows in its 30-year history. As a result, Towne Street Theatre has become a home for many local artists of color with a loyal audience following, and honors of recognition from the City of Los Angeles, Women in Theatre, The League of Allied Arts, the NAACP, Inner City Cultural Center and others.

Sample directing credits at TST include Corona and Other Maladies, We Jump Broom, In Response, Langston & Nicolas, Millennium in Black, Passing (conception on all four as well), Sister Cities, Nevis Mountain Dew, Joleta, Five on the Blackhand Side, JackLeg, 1969, and two short films – Family and Summer Dreams. She has also directed at USC’s School of Dramatic Arts (Three Sisters, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window and Counting), The Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival Company (Affinity Lunch, Thoughts and Prayers), Company of Angels, Story in Harlem Slang, and Madwoman of Chaillot at Culver City Public Theatre. Her adaptation of PassingSOLO from the Towne Street Theatre play Passing, is published in the anthology black/woman/solo by Northwestern University Press. PassingSOLO was performed at the University of Duisberg in Essen, Germany in 2016, after a critically acclaimed run at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood. The play is now part of the syllabus in Performance Studies at Stanford University, University of Santa Barbara and the University of Duisberg, Germany.

Nancy is the winner of the NAACP Best Actress award for her portrayal of Clare Kendry Bellew in the 1997 Towne Street Theatre production of Passing and a Best Actress Nominee for her portrayal of Sophie in Pearl Cleage’s award winning play Flyin’ West at the St. Louis Black Repertory Company. In addition to a number of theatre productions, she has also been featured in iconic films such as Robert Townsend’s HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE, Keenan Ivory Wayans’ I’M GONNA GIT YOU SUCKA!, The Hughes Brothers’ MENACE TO SOCIETY, and The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson, which starred a young Andre Braugher & Kasi Lemons. Television credits include Dexter, 1600 Penn, Sparks (with Terrence Howard & James Avery), The Young & The Restless, and others.