Marchánt Davis has received the second annual Micki Grant Artist Residency at Off-Broadway’s York Theatre.
Named in honor of Micki Grant, the groundbreaking actor, composer, lyricist, playwright, director, and York Honorary Board Member, the Micki Grant Artist-in-Residence program supports artists from historically underrepresented communities through paid mentorship, professional development, and hands-on experience within an Off-Broadway theatre. This year’s residency is designed for emerging directors with a passion for musical theatre and a strong artistic voice.
Davis is a Brooklyn-based actor, writer, director, producer, and author. As an actor, Davis appears in HBO’s Peabody Award-winning film Reality and starred in the feature film The Day Shall Come. His Broadway credits include Ain’t No Mo’, Good Night, Oscar, and The Great Society. As a director, his work includes 2 x 2 at the NYU Graduate Acting Program Freeplay Festival, a workshop production of Your Arms Are Too Short to Box With God at The Mercury Store, Purlie at The Boston Conservatory, and audio productions for Playing On Air, including JFK Taxi, The Wayfarer’s Code, and Did I Miss Anything Important? As an associate director, Davis has worked on productions and workshops including The Saviors at Atlantic Theater Company, Other at Greenwich House Theater, Wine in the Wilderness at Classic Stage Company, American Eclipsed with Tony-winning director Bill Rauch, and the Tectonic Theater Project Cabaret. He also served as a directing observer on Wedding Band at Theatre for a New Audience. Davis was a Reason to Go Places Directing Fellow at Theatre for a New Audience under Bartlett Sher and was selected as a 2023 Mercury Store Directing Lab Fellow. Davis holds an MFA from the NYU Tisch Graduate Acting Program.
Davis will serve as a directing observer on The York Theatre’s upcoming Mainstage production of Kilgallen, and direct a special 50th Anniversary concert on December 10 of the landmark Broadway musical Vinnette Carroll’s Your Arms Too Short to Box with God (for which Grant wrote additional music and lyrics). Davis will work directly with York staff and artistic leadership; attend workshops on grant-writing, fundraising, and navigating theatrical unions; and receive an invitation to The York’s Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala. He will also receive a $3,500 stipend.
“Micki Grant once said that through her work, she wanted to ‘open eyes, not turn them away.’ That idea has stayed with me,” says Davis. “It’s something I strive for in my own work—to create theatre that invites people to look closer, feel deeply, and see themselves and one another with greater clarity. To be a resident in Micki’s name, and to continue exploring that spirit through my own work, is a tremendous honor.”
The 2026 selection committee included Daryl Walker, director-choreographer Kenny Ingram, inaugural resident Dahlak Brathwaite, and York Theatre staff members Joseph Hayward, Wendy Hall, Stephanie Prugh, and Tatiana Montes.