Elizabeth Swanson (Photo: Collin Quinn Rice)

Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department faculty member Elizabeth Swanson has been named artistic director of Chicago’s award-winning BoHo Theatre. Swanson succeeds Stephen Schellhardt, who announced his intentions of leaving in September 2021 after six years with the company. Swanson is a freelance director and graduate of the Lir National Academy of Dramatic Arts at Trinity College in Dublin where they earned an MFA in Theatre Directing. Some of Swanson’s recent Chicago directing projects include the Jeff Award-winning Head Over Heels for Kokandy Productions, which also earned Swanson a nomination for direction. At Columbia College, Swanson teaches in the Theatre Department’s Musical Theatre program and is directing the Theatre Department’s 2021-2022 Mainstage Season production of the musical Cabaret, which runs February 16 through 19 in the Courtyard Theatre of the Columbia College Chicago Getz Theatre Center, located at 72 E. 11th St. in Chicago’s South Loop.