In addition to playing host to Chicago's best itinerant companies, the Chopin's husband-and-wife proprietors Zygmunt Dyrkacz and Lela Headd go to great lengths to bring eastern European artists to their Wicker Park establishment.
Chicago is no longer American theatre's second city
Kris Vire , The Guardian
Published 09/29/09
www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2009/sep/28/chicago-american-theatre-second-city
"The Chopin Theatre has made a huge effort in recent years to import some of the more interesting, imaginative and controversial theater productions on the European scene"
Chopin Theatre's international vision grows
Hedy Weiss , Chicago Sun Times
Published 10/31/08
Signs of Trouble: Can our Storefront Theaters survive the Broadway Blitz
.. Chopin owners Zygmunt Dyrkacz and Lela Headd have played host to some of the most thrilling theater the city's had to offer during the last 17 years"
Chris Piatt and Kris Vire , TimeOut Chicago
Published 09/26/07
“…but the impassioned and intelligent Dyrkacz is far from your typical theater owner"
Theater Reviews
Chris Jones , Chicago Tribune
Published 05/21/99
Theater Review - Dr. Faustus
"Once again, the Chopin Theatre re-establishes itself as one of the truly authentic Off Loop theater venues of note"
Published 09/29/2009
www.donhall.blogspot.com
Wicker Park's Dirty Doorstep
Round two of the battle over the glorified bus stop known as the Polish Triangle
"From his office window Zygmunt Dyrkacz can see everything that happens at the Polish Triangle. It’s a bleak, brick-paved island at the intersection of Ashland, Division, and Milwaukee......Neighborhood groups say the Triangle belongs to Wicker Park, but the Triangle seems worlds away from the boutiques and bars a few blocks north and west. ..and Dyrkacz says that unless the Triangle gets a face-lift they never will"
Tasneem Paghdiwala , Chicago Reader
Published 10/18/07
Eclectic Details @ The Chopin
"Owners Zygmunt Dyrkacz and Lela Headd have transformed this space, originally constructed in 1918 by M.F. Strunch Architects, into a rare and wonderful location. Chicago and its theater community are the fortunate recipients of this couple’s uniquely lovely vision. You see the evidence of it in every nook and cranny at the Chopin and you can feel the inviting warmth as soon as you step in"
Venus Zarris , Chicago Stage Review.com
Published 5/28/09
And small plucky venues such as the Chopin Theatre, run by Polish native Zygmunt Drykacz and his wife, Lela Headd, also bring in under-the-radar experimental groups from Europe, particularly with the theatre’s annual I-Fest, which focuses mostly on solo artists, many presenting work in their first language.
Chicago & The World Stage
Kerry Reid , Performink
Published 02/13/09
"There’s a finite number of those small and midsize spaces where itinerant storefront companies can ply their wares. I spend an inordinate chunk of my life in the Chopin’s basement, , which housed four of my favorite productions this year:"
Space: The Final Frontier
Kris Vire , TimeOut Chicago
Published 12/19/08
"In all of its values, Cromer’s subterranean Our Town, staged with mercurial precision in the Chopin basement, was the Chicago-est play of 2008"...
Town and Country: A Look Back at 2008
Christopher Piatt , TimeOut Chicago
Published 12/19/08
Donors Forum , a 1400+ association of leading philanthropists including MacArthur, Driehaus and Ford foundations, honors Chopin Theatre and three others as Chicago’s most successful for profit cultural institutions.
City of Chicago & Donors Forum - "Art for Profit" Forum
Published 11/14/08
www.donorsforum.org
I-Fest 2008
"..So it is fitting that I-Fest is produced also by a couple of Polish/African American misfits. It also illustrates that international theater, in whatever simple and inexpensive way, can still be shown in our City"
Arab American Media Services
Published 10/17/08
Theater Review – The Birthday Party
Zygmunt Dyrkacz and Lela Headd have created the only venue in town that makes me feel that Theater is a Big Deal - from the salon-like atmosphere of the multiple lobby areas, decorated and designed with the touch and eye of an artist to the simple non-commercial, vaguely European tastes at the small cafe-ish concessions bar, to the comfortable stuffed chairs arranged for comfort and observation - every time I go there I expect to see Brecht, Pinter, and Stoppard drinking Turkish coffee and exchanging war stories of productions past
Don Hall , Angry White Guy in Chicago Blog
Published 09/01/08
House Theater of Chicago - Our New Home
The House is jazzed about performing at the Chopin, which the Tribune calls, "a community asset of the first order," because owners Zygmunt Dyrkacz (who saved the building from demolition in 1990) and Lela Headd have gone out of their to make the whole place feel like an old-school lounge"
House Theater Blog
Published 08/01/08
Chopin Theatre - One of the last old-school entertainment venues in Wicker Park, this theater houses some of Chicago's best storefront companies.
Critic's Pick - Best Venue
Editoral Staff , TimeOut Chicago
Published 07/31/08
Chess fanatics take time for a quick game in the sun at last week's Do Division Festival. The chess tournament was sponsored by Chopin Theatre.
Check Mates
Tim Inklebarger , Chicago Journal
Published 06/05/08
www.chicagojournal.com
Location is everything. For years, Collaboraction's annual Sketchbook Festival was based out of Wicker Park, where it occupied the Chopin Theatre with a frisky, we're-artists-and-we-dare-you-to-be-bored spirit that made this short play series one of brightest spots on the calendar. …In 2007, the fest moved to a fancier address at the Steppenwolf Garage…and to say the cacophonous energy has been toned down is an understatement. It's not so much tame as well-behaved. Domesticated. Stay-in-your-seat protocol"
Sketchbook Festival More Reined in
Nina Metz , tribune.jpg
Published 05/19/08
Two presentations at Chopin Theatre win 2007 ORGIES (The Orgies are an anonymously-bestowed honor for outstanding original work in Chicago Theater).
Hey there, Orgie girl!
Christopher Piatt , TimeOut Chicago
Published 02/28/2008
www.timeoutchicago.com
INDIA MATRI BHUMI . "Chicago Cinema Forum showed this at the Chopin Theatre a really indispensable place for theatrical and other artistic gatherings in this case showing film"
Mother Russia Mother India - Andrew Patner
Andrew Patner , WFMT FM
Published 09/12/07
"“But there I was last Saturday night, in the bustling lobby of the Chopin Theatre in Wicker Park -- a community asset of the first order -- trying to weasel my way into a sold-out Rossellini screening .."
Forum throws cinematic rarities to the lines - Michael Philips
Michael Phillips , Chicago Tribune
Published 09/07/07
Ukrainian Film Club of Columbia University
This year our Chicago appearance promises to be even more exciting: we joined efforts with Mr. Zygmunt Dyrkacz, the founder and director of the renowned Chopin Theater, which since 1990, has actively promoted independent and world cinema
Published 08/24/07
Chicago Public Radio
Issues of identity, personal freedom and the role of the State, are but a few of the many issues Poles and Ukrainians grapple with today.
This weekend the Chopin Theatre here in Chicago will host a film festival with films that center around the Post-revolution lives of these Slavic peoples.
Post Revolution Blues - Jerome McDonnell
Jerome McDonnel , Chicago Public Radio
Published 8/23/07
Dear PerformInk:
Through my own ineptitude I’m sure, I somehow missed Kerry Reid’s article about Sketchbook. I did, however, read the letter to the editor in response to the article from the folks at the Chopin Theatre.
Kudos to Chopin - Joan Mazzonelli
Joan Mazzonelli
Published 07/20/07
Dear Performink
To Kerry Reid’s elaborate and thoughtful article on Sketchbook 2007 at Steppenwolf, we’d like to add that Sketchbook had six successful editions at Chopin Theatre, culminating in it having the “hip Wicker Park/Bucktown following” mentioned in the article.
Inconvenient Truth about Art and Money - Zygmunt Dyrkacz and Lela Headd
Performink
Published 06/20/07
..But, for the most part, little is as important to Dyrkacz as being socially and politically informed and relevant. Chopin Theatre reflects this passion... Critics laud Chopin Theatre's productions, many of which are avant-garde, as visceral, challenging, experimental and impassioned.
Is Wicker Park Pushing out Chopin?
Anitra Rowe , Pioneer Local
Published 2/7/07
The gritty theater regularly presents performances like the (Bill) Gates piece that aim to challenge the status quo and take an honest look at the human condition. It's a worldview that Dyrkacz incorporates into his daily life, as he struggles to keep his private theater running.
No rest for the living:
Chopin Theatre’s tireless promoter churns out 500 shows a year
Timothy Inklebarger , Chicago Journal
Published 11/22/06
There's plenty of unique decor in both the upstairs and downstairs theater of the Chopin, which is run by husband-and-wife team Zygmunt Dyrkacz and Lela Headd (both pictured).
A spoof on Urinetown - Chris Piatt and Novid Parsi
Published 03/16/2006
"Chicago Shakespeare gets a lot of (well deserved) praise for bringing in high-profile European troupes. But those who wish to see the best of experimental European theatre … know that Wicker Park's Chopin is the place to go"
People Making a Difference in Chicago Theater
Kerry Reid , Performink
Published 12/29/05
Can you name the Chicago Theatre dedicated to Polish and Eastern European productions? In 1990, Polish emigre, Zygmunt Dyrkacz, opened his international playhouse in Wicker Park.
International Playhouse - Charlie Wojciechowski
Charlie Wojciechowski , NBC TV
Published 10/1/05
"Good Morning this is Around Town and I am Anna Belaval. Today we will show you what critics are calling 'theatrical magic; an amazing experience for the senses?. We're at Chopin Theatre for La Luna and Aztec Hotel "
La Luna and Aztec Hotel - Anna Belaval
Anna Belaval , WGN TV
Published 08/24/05
Critic's Choice with Andrew Patner - “Dyrkacz also brings important European avant-garde companies to his venue, something that happens too rarely here since the demise of the International Theatre Festival of Chicago “
Critic's Choice with Andrew Patner
Andrew Patner , WFMT FM
Published 08/17/2005
- "Making his adaptable spaces available to many young Chicago theatre companies and presenting an astonishing 500 or so events a year (!), Dyrkacz also brings important European avant-garde companies to his venue, something that happens too rarely here since the demise of the International Theatre Festival of Chicago".
Zygmunt Dyrkacz of Chopin Theatre
Andrew Patner , WFMT 98.7FM
Published 8/17/05
"For the past 15 years Zygmunt Dyrkacz has been presenting international experimental theatre at the scrappy Chopin Theatre, including performances by Poland's astonishing Teatr Cogitatur. Despite more than two decades of international acclaim, the troupe had never appeared in this country until Dyrkacz brought it here to present Aztec Hotel in 2003.
Mystery Achievement: Teatr Cogitatur and Chopin Theatre conspire to bring Polish avante garde to Chicago - Justin Hayford
Justin Hayford , Chicago Reader
Published 08/11/05
"Question: Where will you find both the trendiest European audiences and the most European-style theater in Chicago?
Answer: At the Chopin Theatre?
La Luna casts spell with light, sound and music - Hedy Weiss
Hedy Weiss , Chicago Sun Times
Published 08/10/05
“The Chopin Theatre, which has just completed a run of a play by the Romanian-born French playwright Matei Visniec, How to Explain the History of Communism to Mental Patients, was founded 14 years ago by Polish émigré Zygmunt Dyrkacz. It has been these smaller entrepreneurial, risk-taking venues that have provided fertile ground for Playing French”
Playing French
Jeremy Grant , Financial Times
Published 11/11/04
"Wicker Park's beautiful white terra-cotta Chopin Theatre was built in 1918, and served as an anchor
Wicker Park's Chopin Theatre - Metromix.com
Metromix.com
Published 01/1/04
The play's the thing!" says Hamlet, and at Chopin Theatre, it couldn't be truer. Hidden behind its Wicker Park storefront location, Chopin houses a main stage and a smaller studio, a cafe, ample dressing areas, a luxurious waiting lounge and a grand foyer. Though the entire building is masterfully decorated with Oriental rugs, antique furniture and photograph- and artwork-clad walls, there's no need to don your most respectably dull theater dress to attend a production here:
One theater and a bevy of shows - Centerstage.net
Anne Wilschuke , Centerstage.net
Published 01/1/04
Sometimes, under the radar, a troupe slips into town and you're lucky to catch them before they slip out again.
Teatr Cogitatur performs for first time in the U.S.
Michael Phillips , Chicago Tribune
Published 10/17/2003
“...Chopin hosts Algren Committee parties and he and McCarrell are "good friends." (The feeling is mutual. "Ziggy," says McCarrell, "is a fine young man, and very un-American in the sense he's not mainly interested in money."
Full Nelson
Jeff Huebne , Reader
Published 11/20/98
