HAC to spotlight Hannibal actor, playwright and producer as Molly Brown on Sunday afternoon

HANNIBAL, Mo. — The Hannibal Arts Council will host a special performance spotlighting Hannibal’s own Molly Brown with Hannibal actor, playwright and producer Erin Kelley at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 21 at the Hannibal Arts Council, 105 S. Main. 

“Margaret: The Incredible Molly Brown,” written and performed by Kelley, features Hannibal’s own Margaret Tobin (Molly) Brown. Best known as the most famous survivor of the Titanic, Brown was a humanitarian, activist, philanthropist, political candidate and performer who made her mark on the world.

Kelley brings this fixture of American and women’s history to life in a dynamic one-hour performance. Her performance opened with a successful run at Planters Barn Theater in 2021 and returns for a third season aboard American Cruise Lines in 2023. The show is performed for groups and events in Hannibal and beyond.

Kelley has been a professional theatre artist for more than 35 years and was based in St. Louis, Chicago and New York before moving to Hannibal in 2019. She holds a bachelor’s degree in theatre arts from Stephens College in Columbia and is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA.

Her acting credits are in theatre, television and film. Originally from Tulsa, Okla., Kelley is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation/Shawnee. Her first solo show, “Portrait of My People,” about growing up in her Native family and culture, is a Kevin Kline Award nominee. While based in St. Louis, she co-founded and for seven years was managing artistic director of the award-winning Avalon Theatre Company. Kelley launched her solo show theatre company, Gilded Age Stage, in Hannibal in 2021.

The program is $15 for the general public and $10 for HAC members. Students are free. Tickets, including free student tickets, are available online at https://hannibalartscouncil.eventbrite.com, by calling 573-221-6545 or stopping by 105 S. Main during regular office hours of noon-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The program is funded in part by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.