Nancy Marie Gilliam is an award-winning author, performing artist, advocate, and educator. After graduating from NYC’s Performing Arts High School, she earned her BFA from the C.W. Post Center of Long Island University and her M.F.A from the University of Southern California.
A proud member of Theatre in the X, her first performance with the company was as a member of the Spoken Word Chorus during the African & Diasporic Cultures Festival led by The Colored Girls Museum in 2019. She returned later that year for the staged reading of American Nigga Zoo by Misty Sol. Her performance as Queen Elizabeth in the Theatre in the X production of Richard III earned her a second Broadway World nomination for Best Supporting Performer.
Other memorable performances include the role of Mrs. Stone in the award-winning short film The Journey of Herma Stone by Skye Dennis. She played the role of Masani in both the 2012 (Downtown Urban Theater Festival Audience Award winner and Best Play runner-up) and 2015 productions of Cheril Clarke’s critically acclaimed play Asylum and originated the role of Denida in Kash Goin’s critically acclaimed prison drama, V to X. Her performance as Chelle in the 2017 Philadelphia premiere of Dominique Morrisseau’s Detroit ’67 earned her her first Best Actress nomination from Broadway World. In 2018, she portrayed Elizabeth “Mum Bett,” Freeman (the first African American woman to successfully file a lawsuit for freedom in the state of Massachusetts) in Wawa’s Women of the Revolution on NBC Television. She is a 2019 alumni of the Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival, in which she was a reader for the plays Sarah's Poem, Relays, and Ring Shout!
Behind the scenes, she served as script consultant & production manager on VI Degrees: The Movie, Assistant Director for the television pilot Flagrant Fouls, and script consultant on Unchained Entertainment's, The Plot. She has produced and directed several music videos including Fuss and Fight by Tomi, By Your Side by Mack & Gibbs, and Now is the Time by LenDar Praise.
Nancy made her unofficial stage debut during the curtain call of the 1967 Broadway production of Hello Dolly featuring Pearl Bailey, Cab Calloway, and Morgan Freeman when her father placed her on stage to say hello to Ms. Bailey. (This story, It Was Magic is included in Chicken Soup for the African American Woman’s Soul, one title in the longest-running anthology in literary history according to the Guinness World Book of Records for which she is a contributing author.) Her official stage debut was in the Joseph Papp NY Shakespeare Festival production of The Wedding Band with Ruby Dee, preceded by her television debut on Wonderama & followed by her motion picture debut in Fame.
In music, she has charted on Billboard, BEAT100 (UK) & Jackie Vibes Radio (Canada) and others as a writer and an artist. Her first hit, Take a Chance by Nuance featuring Vikki Love, a collaboration with Ron Dean Miller (Pet Shop Boys) topped the Billboard Dance charts. Their next collaboration, Stop Playing on Me was picked up by NBC TV as the theme for The Gloating Place, an episode of the 1980s remake of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Her first #1 as an artist was the Neo Soul anthem, Sunny Days (JVR). She recently collaborated with José Côrte-Real on the international hit record, Love Won't Fade. Other musical credits include background vocals on The Wiz soundtrack (MGM), Finally (Calvin Carr) & The Light (ABC TV) as well as doing composing/toplining for The Gate Called Straight (the gospel adaptation of The Wiz) BORN, and The Shoeshine Box. She has done voiceover work for Bert Neufeld, Ted Page, The Black Tribbles, Dusky Projects, The Griot, and Something Else Sound Directions, Ltd. in London. She has served as the announcer for events such as The Evoluer House Fashion Show Fundraisers and Philadelphia Fashion Week.
Nancy’s literary credits include contributions to six titles in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series including the N.Y. Times Best Seller & 2004 Black Book Award Winner for Non-Fiction, Chicken Soup for the African American Soul, Chicken Soup for the African American Woman’s Soul, for which she served as Special Projects Manager under Lisa Nichols. Her most recent title with the series is the 2021 release, Chicken Soup for the Soul: I’m Speaking Now with Breena Clark. Her story, True Friend from Chicken Soup for the Soul: Teens Talk Middle School inspired the musical The New Girl by Ronve O'Daniel and Jevares C. Myrick. She was selected from an elite group of educators nationwide to create the companion study guide for the book, Lebron James: King of the Court, for which she also wrote the introduction. She is a contributor to The Hustler's Ten Commandments by Hotep and Blacks Behind the Scenes in Film and Television by Dr. Eleanor Earl and veteran producer, Monty Ross. Her story, There Will Be No Graduation was featured in the Billie Holiday virtual production, 50in50: Love in the Time of Corona, read by Lanman Rucker. She self-published two children’s books, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You and I Can’t Play Basketball, I’m Only Four Feet Tall. Most recently, she penned the introduction to her daughter, Alyia Wyatte’s first book of poetry, The Stories My Heart Never Told and Beneath the Crown by the Diamond Writers. She is excited to have her poem What Ntozake Said featured in the upcoming mini documentary project, We Sing a Black Girl’s Song.
Nancy’s work in education was recognized by Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. She spent 16 years in secondary education, primarily as a high school English teacher. She has shared her wealth of experience as both a speaker and a planner at conferences and festivals across the country including The African American Literary & Media Conference in Reno, Nevada, The Philadelphia Black Film & Media Conference, The SOL Film Festival in Norfolk, Virginia, The Brother 2 Brother Literary Symposium in Houston, Texas, The Boynton Beach Arts Explosion, and The South Florida Youth in Film Festival. She returned to her alma mater to conduct writing workshops and as a guest speaker for the Drama Department's Senior Seminar in 2005 and 2006 at The Fiorello H. LaGuardia School of the Arts. She currently serves as a board member and Content Creator Liaison for Black Education Station, the first streaming platform dedicated to the educational needs of Black children.
Nancy has spent twelve years working in different capacities with the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Homeless Services including Rapid Re-Housing Program Management, Lead HMIS Training Specialist, and HMIS Content Development Specialist. She served as a vocal member of the Mastery Charter School Parent Action Network from 2015 – 2021 and was the recipient of the Family Partnership Award for her service at Shoemaker Campus. She served 14 years as a Board Member of the award-winning Non-Profit, The Evoluer House, for which she produced the first three seasons of the internationally acclaimed podcast, Girl Truth: What Lens Are You Looking Through? For her work with Evoluer, she was recognized as a 2018 Woman of Substance & Style by Joan Shepp.
Above all things, Nancy considers her greatest accomplishment as being the proud mother of seven and grandmother of nine amazing children.
