A Curtain Call for Davida 

“I’m so excited for the next chapter!” said Davida, brimming with the warmth, enthusiasm and sense of purpose that she has brought to the Crossroads Drama Department for the past 45 years. During her remarkable tenure, Davida was the department's guiding force, shaping an outstanding performing arts program and deeply touching the lives of her students. 

In 1981, Davida was hired as a part-time Middle School teacher. She quickly fell in love with the energy and approach to learning she found at Crossroads—and the feeling was mutual. Davida’s talents, creativity and drive found numerous ways to take root within the School’s developing landscape. She started teaching in the Upper School, introducing movement classes and directing productions, including her first and still-a-favorite, “Oh, What a Lovely War.” 

In 1985, she jumped in to help launch the all-school Cabaret fundraiser, bringing together students, faculty, staff and families from every division in a showcase of community talent and spirit. She went on to direct many more Cabarets, which has become one of the School’s most treasured traditions. 

Davida became chair of the Drama Department in 1988, a role she held for the remainder of her career, except for a brief hiatus when her daughter, Frasier ’07, was a student. As chair, she built a foundation of programs that gave students space to experiment, discover their talents, develop their craft and confidence, and find community. 

Davida created the Middle School Players, Crossroads Dance Company and the Crossroads Touring Company, a community service and performance outreach program. “Tour,” as it’s lovingly known, takes ninth and 10th graders to the Bay Area to perform musical theater in hospitals, shelters, treatment centers and other nontraditional spaces. It has been a transformative experience for countless students. 

“I still remember Davida telling us, ‘It’s about seeing people,’ not their circumstance, their disability or my discomfort,” said producer and educator DaMonique Ballou ’13. “I remember and keep these lessons very close to my heart.”

Under Davida’s leadership, the Drama Conservatory was founded to offer 11th and 12th grade students an audition-based, two-year program in acting, playwriting, Shakespeare, directing, improvisation, musical theater, production design, stage makeup, voice and movement. 

Davida led hundreds of students through the process of making plays come to life in Crossroads’ black box theater, nurturing the unique sparks in her cast and crew, helping students discover not only what they could do, but who they could become. 

She also brought an adventurous spirit to the productions she directed, including the dazzlingly complex musicals of composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim. She also championed plays that pushed the boundaries of what audiences might expect from high school theater, including a production of “Godspell” produced outdoors with real police cars in the Alley, and shows like “Rent” and “Spring Awakening” that offer unflinching looks at challenging subject matter.

For all her accomplishments at Crossroads, Davida’s real legacy is alive in her students. Whether they have gone on to careers in the performing arts or followed other paths, they speak about the lasting impact of their time with her. 

Screenwriter, producer and playwright David McMillan ’96 shared: “I can honestly say I wouldn’t be the creative artist I am, or the human being I am, without Davida. She taught me that rigor, discipline, and artistic excellence are perfectly compatible with joy, soulfulness, kindness and love.” 

Her next act? Davida is an author of young adult fiction and is looking forward to future writing projects. But what she’s most excited about is her new role as grandmother to Frasier’s baby boy. 

Whatever this next chapter brings, Davida’s brilliance, creativity and dedication will remain woven into the fabric of Crossroads—in the programs she built, the traditions she helped create and in the countless students whose lives she changed.