We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kelvin Roston Jr a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kelvin , appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I’ve written and perform a show called TWISTED MELODIES. It is a look at mental illness through the eyes and music of late great soul singer and musician, Donny Hathaway, and has become the most meaningful work of my life. I never considered myself a writer when I was commissioned to conceive an idea for s one-person-show back in 2006/07. Ron Himes, founding Producing, Artistic Director of The Black Rep in my hometown of St Louis, MO, called me and others to that task. I came up with a show I called PSYCHOLOGY OF A GENIUS. It was my imagination of Donny hathaway’s last day in earth in his hotel room. Fast forward to 2013 and I’m living in Chicago for 5 years by then. The late Sam Roberson Jr, who was Artistic Director of Congo Square Theatre Company at the time, asked me the point of my piece and my reason for writing it. I told him about my mother and how she suffers from mental illness. He convinced me that the reason I wrote is the point, and I should focus on just that, mental illness. I rewrote PSYCHOLOGY OF A GENIUS, focused on how to take the audience on Donny’s journey through his mind and music, and came up with TWISTED MELODIES. 2015 was the world premiere and since then, I’ve had people tell me that it’s saved their lives. I’ve been told by some audiences that they’ve, for the 1st time, spoken in their illness or that of family, that they’ve seen from another perspective, and many favorable reviews. I feel as if I found my artistic purpose in this work and truly affecting lives and change.

Kelvin , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born September 23, 1978 in St Louis, Missouri. My family has always been musical. My Maternal Grandfather was the founding pastor of First Baptist Baptist of Northwoods. We all sang in the church and I was the pianist. That was my beginning in the arts. Though I didn’t go to art schools, my schools had great theater programs. I was in my first play at the age of 4 years as a priest. However, it was the spring musical in my freshman year of high school that I really felt “bitten by the bug,” as they say. The show was BETSY BROWN by Ntozake Shange. That’s where I learned that I could act, sing, AND dance. I was in all of the plays and musicals throughout high school. Upon graduation, though, my life went another direction, and the arts, once again, were confined to the church and the choirs. Later in life, I was introduced to Ron Himes of the aforementioned Black Rep by my cousin, Ron Conner. Being around the theater reawakened my love of the stage. I took the 3 year acting intensive internship to learn the craft, add learning to my talent to develop skill. My first professional show was as young Joe Hardy in DAMN YANKEES in 2003. I’ve been going ever since. I moved to Chicago in 2008. I’ve been able to drive into the August Wilson Universe with Ron OJ Parson and Chuck Smith. At the same time, I’ve been able to embody the likes of Donny Hathaway, Jackie Wilson, and Jimmy Early. I’ve been King in KING HEDLEY II, Oedipus the King in Oedipus Rex, while being able to sing as Oedipus in THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS. I believe that is what sets me apart. I have been able to work equally in straight plays and musical theater. Chicago has been good to me.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

This is a great question. For me, the most rewarding part of being an artist is the ability to tackle heavy subjects and spark conversations about them with people who may not ever have had such a talk. Art allows an entrance that may have otherwise not been there. TWISTED MELODIES has given me an opening into the discussion of mental illness. EAST TEXAS HOT LINKS by Eugene Lee allows us into the discussion of race relations in America. I enjoy being a part of something real through my art.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The journey of TWISTED MELODIES is a great example of resilience. The show premiered in 2015. Between that premiere and 2019, TWISTED MELODIES had played in Chicago, IL (Congo Square Theatre), St. Louis, MO (The Black Rep), Washington DC (Mosaic Theater), Baltimore, MD (Baltimore Center Stage), and New York, NY (Apollo Theater). I was in conversations about and putting together a tour when the shutdown happened. The brakes were out on everything. Because the future was so uncertain for everyone, conversations, meetings, prospects, theaters all dried up. I didn’t know what I was going to do as an artist and even as a human needing to provide for his family. I was able to work in landscaping, using the green thumb and masonry skills, though minimal, that I possess. So, the human provider part was met, but who knew what would become of art. During the shutdown, I was able to be a part of production meetings for Court Theater’s prospective 2021 production of THE TRAGEDY OF OTHELLO, THE MOOR OF VENICE. If the world opened up, Court would do the show and I would play Othello. The time the shutdown allotted for exploitation of the piece was immeasurable. The world did indeed open up, and we did a sparce version of the show as the rules of reopening allowed. As the world opened up more and more, THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS came around in 2023. At the same time, inquiries about TWISTED MELODIES began. After remounting THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS at the Getty Villa Museum in Malibu, CA, I ended 2023 with a production of TWISTED MELODIES with the The Repertory Theater of St Louis in Webster Groves, MO. It was the first production of show since the shutdown. I’m now slated for a production of TWISTED MELODIES at Northlight Theater in Skokie, IL on July/August of 2025. We’re still pushing on.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @rostonjr
• Facebook: /KelvinRostonJr
• Twitter: @KelvinRoston