‘A bright light.’ Multi-talented actor, director, photographer with Lexington roots dies at 66.
Patrick Mitchell, a hugely talented artist who shared his craft across genres from Lexington’s Lyric Theatre to Broadway, died on Sept. 12 after a brief illness. He was 66 years old.
Mitchell’s creative output was vast: He was a photographer, an actor, a director, a playwright, a podcaster, a radio host and a stand-up comedian. He was a co-founder of Message Theater, an African-American theater company based at the Lyric Theatre in Lexington’s East End. Some of his acting roles included Othello and Malcom X in Broadway and off-Broadway productions. His own play, “The Waiting Room,” premiered at the Lyric Theater in 2023 directed by Joe Ferrell.
He collaborated with visual artist Marjorie Guyon and National Book Award-winning poet Nikky Finney to create “i was here,” in which Mitchell’s somber portraits were interlaid with Guyon’s paintings and Finney’s poems to create complex portraits related to the transatlantic slave trade. In 2020, the project won a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, which allowed permanent installations at Lexington library branches.
Mitchell had roots in New York but went to high school in Lexington and attended Kentucky State University.
Former Kentucky Poet Laureate Frank X Walker co-founded Message Theater with Mitchell in the 1980s, and said Mitchell had been having heart problems.
“Most people would be stunned because he had so much heart,” Walker said. “We grew up as adult artists together. We had a kind of creative bromance together.”
Mitchell starred in the first play Walker wrote called “Post Time,” about two custodians at the University of Kentucky assessing an incoming crop of students. Most recently, Walker said, Mitchell had talked to him about trying to create an arts center for the East End of Lexington.
“He was in the lives of so many people — he brought a warmth and energy that was so upbeat and positive and comforting,” Walker said.
Mitchell’s collaboration and cheerleading for other artists in the community was evidenced by numerous accolades from friends and colleagues as word of his death got out.
“He was a bright light in our community—always generous, always dedicated to the voices that needed to be heard,” according to a post on the Lyric Theatre Facebook page. “His unwavering commitment to the ‘Voice of the People’ will be remembered, and his absence will be deeply felt. We will miss his laughter, his creativity, and his boundless heart.”
Walter Tunis, an actor and music critic for the Herald-Leader, performed in several plays with Mitchell.
“Matching image to emotion,” Tunis wrote in a tribute. “That’s what Patrick did as a radio host, as a photographer, as a writer and, as I knew him best, an actor ... Talented and kind. Those are the descriptions in many of the online tributes I’ve read since word of his passing spread. Patrick was both a thousand times over, a gentleman who always left a room brighter than it was before he entered.”
He was an early volunteer at RadioLex, developing the “Kiss of Lyfe” music show and “I’m Too Old For This,” in which he explored issues of aging with friend and cohost Debora Logan Lawson.
“He was extremely creative, extremely talented, but also just a friendly, gentle soul with a huge heart and he just loved this community, and the arts,” said RadioLex General Manager Mark Royse. “He really encouraged other people who were interested to go deeper.”
Mitchell is survived by three children and five grandchildren.
RadioLex will host a “Kiss of Lyfe” Tribute Show on Friday, Sept. 20 from 1-6 p.m. Listeners are invited to call in with tributes. A celebration of life will be held for Mitchell at the Lyric Theatre on Saturday, Sept. 21 with doors opening at noon and starting at 1 p.m.
This story was originally published September 13, 2024 at 10:26 AM with the headline "‘A bright light.’ Multi-talented actor, director, photographer with Lexington roots dies at 66.."