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Proud Mary Theatre Goes Avant-garde with ‘Stop Kiss’

Kelly Davis, Hope Phillips and Audrey Zongrone Waldrop star in STOP KISS.

Proud Mary Theatre Company follows up the smash musical Falsettos with a modern classic lesbian drama Stop Kiss by Law and Order: Criminal Intent producer and playwright Diana Son.

Performed during International Women’s Month, Stop Kiss is a masterful play about the relationships of two women and their first kiss which provokes a violent attack. This production will feature an intimate avant-garde setting and visuals.

Directed by theatre artist Melanie Ann Wiliford (also founder of Thespis in the Green Room podcast), Stop Kiss stars Kelly Davis (Best Actor Winner for The Pink Unicorn; Fun Home; The Laramie Project), Hope Phillips (A Straightforward Scenario), and Audrey Zongrone Waldrop (The Laramie Project; The Gayest Christmas Pageant Ever), in addition to surprise male guests.

Davis plays Callie, a traffic reporter in New York City; Phillips is Sara, an elementary school teacher in the Bronx; and Waldrop portrays multiple roles including a witness to the attack and a nurse.

Quinn Davis is stage manager, and Sandy Staggs is production manager.

SHOW DATES:
FRIDAY/SATURDAY MARCH 11-12 & 18-19 @ 8 PM
SUNDAY MARCH 13 & 20 @ 3 PM

ARTISTS COLLECTIVE SPARTANBURG
578 West Main St.
Spartanburg, SC 29301

For tickets, visit proudmarytheatre.com or call (864) 202-6555

$20 General/$15 Senior/Student

ABOUT OUR CAST

Kelly Davis (she/her) is an Actress, Singer and Teaching Artist as well as VP of the family business, Firefly Solar & Roofing.  She has performed with the Proud Mary Theatre Company in The Pink Unicorn and Fun Home. Locally, Kelly has performed at Milltown Players, Centre Stage, Upstate Shakspeare, The Greenville Chorale, and later this year at Greenville Theatre.  She is also a Teaching Artist with SmartARTS and The Warehouse Theatre.  A fitness enthusiast, Kelly is an E-RYT 200 Certified Yoga Teacher with various specialties as well as a Personal Trainer.  She holds a BFA in Acting and a minor in Musical Theatre from Marymount Manhattan College.  She studied Shakespeare and Classical Theatre in London at the British American Dramatic Academy, and studied in New York at Upright Citizens Brigade, Michael Howard, and Penny Templeton Studios. Kelly’s husband Aaron is a Kiwi from New Zealand and they both love karaoke and cats.

Hope Phillips (she/her) graduated from USC Upstate in 2021 with a B.A. in Theatre and a minor concentration in Womens’ and Gender Studies. Highlights from her time at USC Upstate include playing Kate in the virtual staged reading of her screenplay debut, All Bite, playing Honey in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Gertie in Fuddy Meers, Emma in Betrayal (Irene Ryan Award Nomination), and Laura / Margie in Buried Over Lewis. Her most recent collaboration with the Proud Mary Theatre Company was as a playwright and actress in 2020, when her play A Straightforward Scenario made its virtual staged reading premiere with Proud Mary.

Audrey Zongrone Waldrop (she/her) is a Licensed Massage Therapist who has worked in pain management and physical rehabilitation since 2003. She made her acting debut as a castmember of Proud Mary’s virtual performance of The Laramie Project in 2020 and again in 2021 The Laramie Project TLP stage performance at USC Upstate Amphitheater. Originally from New York, she came to the upstate in 1998. She is a longtime visual artist, mother and grandmother to 6 brilliant and hilarious humans, and third-time actor!

Quinn Davis (she/they) can usually be found in local Shakespeare performances, and has been acting in the Greenville and Spartanburg area since 1997 in various productions, including The Laramie Project, Blue Camp, and The Vultures with Proud Mary Theatre. Her other career highlights include Measure for Measure, The Tempest, and Othello. This is her second show helping behind the scenes with Proud Mary. A special thank you to her partner Jess, and son Max for their support and patience during all the long nights!