Best Storefront Theater Incubator
Kris Vire , Chicago Magazine
August, 2024
“…even the most enterprising theatergoers may not know what’s worth checking out. One solid rule of thumb: See what’s playing at the Chopin Theatre….”
Spaced Out in Chicago: When Storefront Theatres Run Out of Storefronts
Amanda Finn , American Theatre
10/6/2023
Small and midsize performance venues help create Chicago’s patented storefront scene…Recently, space has become increasingly hard to find for theatre companies in Chicago, making it more difficult for smaller companies to maintain their already tenuous footholds.
Best Venue for Theater
Chicago Reader Poll , Chicago Reader’s Best Venue for Theater: Steppenwolf, Goodman and Chopin Theatre
5-Apr-23
Chicago Reader’s Best Venue for Theater: Steppenwolf, Goodman and Chopin Theatre
Chicago Legends For Ukraine. Bringing Local, International Musicians To Wicker Park For Benefit Concert Friday
Quinn Meyers , Block Club Chicago
30-Mar-22
The concert at the Chopin Theatre is raising money to support artists unable to work in Ukraine. Organizers are also setting up a livestream for people to watch.
I-Fest 2008
Arab American Media Services
11/30/21
“..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”
Check Mates
Tim Inklebarger , Chicago Journal
11/1/21
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.
Centerstage.net – One theater and a bevy of shows
Anne Wilschuke , Centerstage.net
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:
A spoof on Urinetown – Chris Piatt and Novid Parsi
Chris Piatt and Novid Parsi , TimeOut Chicago
10/9/21
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).
Metromix.com – Wicker Park’s Chopin Theatre
Metromix.com
“Wicker Park’s beautiful white terra-cotta Chopin Theatre was built in 1918, and served as an anchor
Zygmunt Dyrkacz of Chopin Theatre
Andrew Patner , WFMT 98.7FM
4/15/21
– “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”.
Chopin Theatre Raises $72,000 From Grateful Fans, Hopes To Reopen This Summer: “It Was Really Overwhelming”
Hannah Alani , Block Club Chicago
3/16/21
“The 103-year-old Chopin Theatre will survive the pandemic thanks to donations from supporters.
The owners of the theater at 1543 W. Division St. launched a fundraiser last year to help manage monthly operating costs, which total $12,000 and cover a mortgage, insurance, property taxes, utilities and various state and city fees”
102-Year-Old Chopin Theatre Asks Public For Help Surviving Pandemic
Hannah Alani , Block Club Chicago
12/1/20
“Independent venues and theaters across Chicago are struggling to survive, and one historical Wicker Park theater is asking neighbors for help staying afloat.
The owners of Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St., launched a Giving Tuesday fundraiser. Donations will help the theater manage operational costs during the pandemic, co-owners Lela Dyrkacz and Zygmunt “Ziggy” Dyrkacz said in a video“
Full Nelson
11/20/98
“…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.”
Letter to the Editor – Tap into the Gateway’s potential
Zygmunt and Lela Dyrkacz , Chicago Tribune
2/17/19
“Many thanks to the Chicago Tribune and Mary Wisniewski for bringing much-needed attention to the Polish Triangle, the long-neglected gateway to Wicker Park. As the naming disagreement has been resolved, the focus is now on the Polish Triangle’s future aesthetics: how to symbolize 2 million Polish immigrants who have passed through it over the years and at the same time have an art masterpiece that boosts Wicker Park as a destination for theaters, galleries, restaurants and boutiques.”
Planned renovation of Blue Line L’ stops raises hope that a nearby park will be revitalized
Mary Wisniewski , Chicago Tribune
1/28/19
The CTA plans to start a $30 million renovation of three Blue Line “L’ stations in West Town this year,
and neighborhood advocates hope the project will spur new interest in ongoing efforts to revitalize the Polish Triangle, a small park at
the Division Street stop…
Chopin turns 100: Historic theater has ushered in hipsters but kept its Polish roots
Chris Jones , Chicago Tribune
12/12/18
Now a hipster highway, Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago was known in the first decades of the 20th century as Dinner Pail Avenue… And in 1918, an upmarket 548 seat theater named the Chopin Theatre opened in the heart of Chicago’s Polish downtown… This was a posher kind of movie theater from the older nickelodeons.. elegant, comfortable and with ornamentation on a par with what could be enjoyed downtown..
Monday night, its owners are throwing the neighborhood a public party to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
WGN TV – Dan Ponce Review of Wicker Park with Chopin Theatre
Dan Ponce , WGN TV
11/2/18
WGN TV’s Dan Ponce reviews Wicker Park/Westtown with Chopin Theatre’s Lela Headd Dyrkacz.
Chicago’s Chopin Theatre Celebrates 100th Anniversary
Worldview with Jerome McDonnell
10/29/18
Chopin Theatre is a “multidisciplinary arts center in the heart of Wicker Park”. The group, celebrating its 100th anniversary, specializes in many art forms, including plays, concerts, art, and even escape room parties.
100 Years In Wicker Park: The Chopin Theatre’s Revival Brought Elegance To Gritty Polish Triangle
Alisa Hauser , Block Club Chicago
10/24/18
Built in 1918, the theater was revived in 1991. Its second show was directed by actor John Cusack, just one of hundreds of performers who’ve called Chopin home…Zygmunt and his wife Lela Headd Dyrkacz have energized the Polish Triangle through their Chopin Theatre. The iconic venue presents more than 500 events a year ranging from theater to jazz and classical music, literary events, films and social events.
Dean Richard’s Sunday Morning 10.14.18 | 100 Years of the Chopin Theater and..
Dean Richards , WGN Radio
10/14/18
Dean helps celebrate 100 years of the Chopin Theater in Wicker Park and dives into the theater’s storied history in the neighborhood and upcoming celebratory events.
Chicago’s Venues That Matter the Most – Chopin Theatre
Chris Jones , Chicago Tribune
19-Feb-10
Chicago is no longer American theatre’s second city
Kris Vire , The Guardian
9/28/09
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.
Space: The Final Frontier
Kris Vire , TimeOut Chicago
19-Dec-08
“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:”
Chopin Theatre’s international vision grows
Hedy Weiss , Chicago Sun Times
31-Oct-08
Signs of Trouble – Can our Storefront theaters survive the Broadway Blitz?
Chris Piatt and Kris Vire , TimeOut Chicago
9/27/07
“.. 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”
Inconvenient Truth about Art and Money – Zygmunt Dyrkacz and Lela Headd
Performink
6/20/07
City of Chicago & Donors Forum Honor
www.donorsforum.org , www.donorsforum.org
11/14/2006/
Chopin Theatre chosen as 1 of 4 most successful for profit cultural institutions in Chicago