Kelvin Dinkins Jr. is assistant dean and lecturer in theater management at the Yale School of Drama and general manager of the Yale Repertory Theatre. He was born in New York City and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Kelvin developed his passion for theater management and producing while an undergraduate at Princeton, where he received his bachelor’s degree in English and received a certificate in theatre and dance from the Lewis Center for the Arts. He earned his master’s in fine arts in theatre management and producing from Columbia University’s School of the Arts.
Prior to his post at Yale, Kelvin worked at Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey, where he spent four years as general manager and produced over 25 productions and two original cast albums, including “Be More Chill” prior to its Broadway run. Kelvin’s career in theater has brought him a range of experiences from producing on Broadway at the National Artists Management Company to his roles as communications and development manager at The Civilians, development fellow at the National Corporate Theatre Fund (a.k.a Theatre Forward), and associate general manager at Intiman Theatre in Seattle.
Kelvin currently serves on the Board of Directors for the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and the Board of Trustees for the Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the Yale Cabaret and the Princeton University Triangle Club. He has also guest lectured on topics of theater management and leadership at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Brown University and Princeton. He is chair of the LORT Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and has developed initiatives to raise the representation of women of all races and men of color in executive leadership in LORT theatres.
At Princeton, Kelvin was president of the Princeton Triangle Club, and participated in the Princeton Summer Theater, Princeton University Players and Princeton Shakespeare Company. He participated in Lewis Center thesis projects of “Romeo and Juliet” and “Othello,” and co-wrote and directed an original musical entitled “Orpheus Waking.”