university of florida

MIKELL PINKNEY
THEATRE AND DANCE Associate Professor

T: 352-273-0512
F: 352-392-5114
E: mpinkney@ufl.edu
Office Address:
226 McGuire Pavilion, P.O. Box 115900
Gainesville, Fl 32611-5900

Mikell Pinkney, Ph.D., is Associate Professor and Head of Performance and Graduate Actor Training in the School of Theatre and Dance. Academic credits: B.A. in Speech and Drama-Hampton Institute, M.A. advanced studies at University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and NYU Film School, M.A. and Ph.D.- The Ohio State University.
   Dr. Pinkney worked as an actor and director for Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway and served as Artistic Director at the Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn, NY, and the Harmonie Park Playhouse, in Detroit, MI. He created resident acting companies and served as master teacher and principal director at both institutions. His companies and production casts have included, among many notable actors; Jonelle Allen, Peggy Alston, Jerome Preston Bates, Denise Burse, Nell Carter, Anthony Chisholm, Loretta Devine, Crystal Fox, Samuel L. Jackson, Ebony JoAnn, Kenny Leon, Clifton Powell, Tim Rhoze, Ed Wheeler and Carol Woods. He has directed numerous productions of new plays, including original and revival productions of A. Marcus Hemphill’s comedy, Inacent Black, which starred Melba Moore, Barbara Montgomery and Reginald Vel-Johnson on Broadway. For Dayton Opera Company, he directed the 1995 world premiere of Paul Laurence Dunbar: Common Ground, an opera by composer Adolphus Hailstork, based on the writings of the famed turn-of-the-century African American poet.
   Pinkney was one of only 45 distinguished individuals invited to a National Black Theatre Summit “On Golden Pond,” convened by August Wilson in 1998 at Dartmouth College. He has appeared as an Associate Artist in the acting company at the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Notable Shakespearean performances include roles in Pericles; As You Like It; The Tempest; The Winter’s Tale; The Taming of the Shrew; Henry 4: Part I and King Lear. He is a Past President and Board Consultant for the Black Theatre Network (BTN) and consulting editor for the BTNews publication, Black Theatre’s Unprecedented Times, a report and essay monograph of the August Wilson National Black Theatre Summit events at Dartmouth and Atlanta, GA.
   At UF, Dr. Pinkney has appeared as both performer and/or director for productions including: A Flea in Her Ear, Hair, Home, The Tempest, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, By Strouse, Tartuffe, Orestes, Richard III, Angels in America, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Maids, Day of Absence, On Tidy Endings, The Ohio State Murders, and Hamlet. Pinkney also directed world premiere productions at UF of The Time Traveler’s Ball and The Cornbread Man, both written by Judi Ann Mason; and the choreopoem Lavender Lizards & Lilac Landmines: Layla’s Dream by noted author, Ntozake Shange. Also, in 1998 Dr. Pinkney was acknowledged as both the College of Fine Arts and the University of Florida “Teacher of the Year.” He is listed in the 2004-05 Edition of National Register’s Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals.

School of Theatre and Dance

Personal Profile