Orange Blossom Award: Cheryl Davis and the Art of Showing Up

by Avery Anderson

Every arts community has its stars — the people onstage, the names in the program, the ones audiences come to see. But Tampa Bay’s arts ecosystem runs on something deeper: the quiet, unglamorous, fiercely devoted labor of people who rarely get recognized.

That’s why The Arts Passport is launching the Orange Blossom Awards, a month-long celebration of the humans who keep this creative world alive. Thirty-one days, thirty-one honorees. No submissions, no campaigns — just gratitude for the people whose work is felt more than seen.

And there’s no better person to begin with than Cheryl Davis.

Because before this becomes an annual tradition, it starts as something more personal: a thank-you to someone who has been holding up not just a theatre, but a family, a team, and a community — often at the exact moment they need it most.

The Mother at the Center of the Room

At freeFall Theatre, Cheryl occupies a role that doesn’t have a title because it doesn’t fit inside one. She is part craftsperson, part troubleshooter, part emotional ballast — and fully, unmistakably, the heartbeat that steadies the room.

Her son, Eric Davis, is freeFall’s artistic director, and like many small arts organizations, that means he wears all the hats. What people don’t always see is that Cheryl quietly wears most of them too.

Production stage manager Daniel LeMein has watched it unfold more times than he can count:

“There is ‘behind the scenes’ and then there is a deeper ‘behind the scenes’ where you’ll find Cheryl Davis working on all sorts of things. As our artistic director Eric wears all the hats, the same could be said of his mother.”

This isn’t symbolic support — it’s literal, back-breaking, deadline-driven help. Daniel continued:

“She will be sewing costumes one minute, then building or shopping for props another minute, and then she’ll be handed off new corrections for the program and she is running off to take care of it.”

It takes a certain kind of mind to switch tasks that fast. It takes a certain kind of heart to do it with joy.

“Always there to make the last minute changes needed to help us cross the finish line of opening night,” Daniel said. “Always a delight as she works in the shadows of everything that’s happening on the stage. Cheryl is the best.”

More Than a Mom — a Community Builder

Marketing Director, frequent actor, and director, Matthew McGee echoed that sentiment: Cheryl isn’t just supporting Eric. She’s supporting everyone.

“Cheryl Davis is not just Eric’s mother! She’s a big part of our tech process for each show, as when needed Cheryl will source props, paint furniture, alter costumes, proof/layout playbill and so much more.”

What stands out isn’t just the list — though it’s extensive — but the steadiness behind it.

“Like Eric, she has many talents and will always quietly and assuredly lend a hand during our tech process.”

And then there’s the part that resists quantifying: her presence. The way she shows up — not for credit, but for connection.

“Seen at every opening night and special event, Cheryl is not just a freeFall fan, volunteer extraordinaire and stalwart supporter, she is a mother to us all,” Matthew said. “The family atmosphere truly starts with her.”

The Orange Blossom Awards were created to honor exactly this kind of person:
the glue, the ballast, the steadying force that allows the art to happen.

Choosing Cheryl Davis as the first honoree isn’t just fitting — it sets the tone.

She represents the truth at the core of the Tampa Bay arts community: that art doesn’t survive on talent alone. It survives because people show up for one another. It survives because someone — often someone who doesn’t get a bio or a bow — is backstage, quietly making sure everyone else can shine.

That’s Cheryl.

That’s the spirit of the Orange Blossom Awards.

And that’s why we begin here.