Khalia Davis Joins BACT As Artistic Director

Bay Area Children's Theatre (BACT) has appointed director, performer, educator, and longtime collaborator Khalia Davis to the new role of Artistic Director.

In her new role, Davis will bring her signature energy and vision to the artistic future of BACT. Her years of multidisciplinary experience and credentials for innovation as a director of new work include the world premiere of BACT's "She Persisted The Musical," inspired by Chelsea Clinton's best-selling book about women heroines, and, most recently, "A Kids Play About Racism," which Davis adapted from Jelani Memory's book, "A Kids Book about Racism." She is also deeply committed to amplifying BIPOC voices and is the first BIPOC woman to become the artistic director of a major theatre for young audiences (TYA).

Nina Meehan, who has led BACT in the dual role of Executive Artistic Director (overall leadership and artistic management) since the company's inception, becomes CEO, with a primary focus on shaping the strategic path forward for BACT as the company looks ahead through the trials of the pandemic and onward to the future. Meehan will continue to provide artistic oversight in such areas as season planning, in collaboration with Davis and the BACT leadership team.

"Khalia Davis has been a beloved, multi-talented, stellar member of the BACT family over the years as an actress, a choreographer, a teaching artist, a director and more," Meehan said. "I am thrilled that she has agreed to join BACT in a key leadership role!"

"BACT has been my artistic home for nearly a decade," Davis said. "I'm excited and honored to be joining the team that will forge the future for the company and our loving relationship to the communities we serve."

For the past several years, Davis has divided her time between the San Francisco Bay Area and New York. She has directed and devised new works with prominent TYA theaters such as BACT (She Persisted, The Musical) Atlantic Theater Company's Atlantic for Kids, New York City Children's Theater, Spellbound Theatre and others. Davis recently served as the Director of Inclusion and Education with Brooklyn Children's Theatre, restructuring their children's musical theater programming through an anti-racism lens. She has taught with New York City Children's Theater, the Atlantic Acting School, and for Disney Theatrical Group, leading music and movement workshops and facilitating audience and community engagement. She is an artistic associate for the nationally known arts education organization The Story Pirates. As a performer, she has worked regionally and toured nationally on both coasts. Davis was awarded the 2019 Emerging Leader Fellowship with TYA/USA and the NYCCT Leader Fellowship for 2019/2020. She holds a BA in Theater Arts from the University of Southern California. www.khaliadavis.com.

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