The Columbia College Chicago School of Theatre and Dance‘s Theatre Advisory Board, composed of alumni and friends of the Theatre Program at Columbia College, hosts Sheldon Patinkin: The Life, Laughs, and Legacy on Saturday, September 21, from 12:30 to 4 PM.
Sheldon Patinkin
This reception, panel discussion, and open forum will mark the 10th anniversary of the passing of beloved director and Columbia College professor Sheldon Patinkin (August 27, 1935-September 21, 2014), chair of the Theatre Program at Columbia College from 1980 through 2009. Columbia Theatre alumni, former faculty and students, and friends of the Theatre Program are all invited to attend. To register, please go to: Columbia College Chicago, Development and Alumni Relations – Sheldon Patinkin: The Life, Laughs, and Legacy.
The event takes place at the historic Getz Theatre Center of Columbia College, located at 72 E 11th St. in Chicago’s South Loop, on Saturday, September 21, from 12:30 to 4 PM in the Sheldon Patinkin Theatre. The event will be an opportunity to hear about the future of the Theatre Program, take a tour of the building (which was extensively renovated in 2018), and – most important – share memories of Patinkin’s distinguished and influential career and how Columbia College is keeping his spirit alive with the Sheldon Patinkin Award, a fund that Patinkin established shortly before his death.
The centerpiece of the afternoon is a panel discussion from 1 to 2:30 PM. But if you’re unable to stay for the whole event, please join us for the welcome reception beginning at 12:30 PM and/or for the post-panel open forum, where people are invited to share their own stories about working with the remarkable Sheldon Patinkin. Guests are also welcome to join us on a tour of the Getz Theatre Center, which was extensively remodeled in 2018.
The panel discussion from 1 to 2:30 will be moderated by Columbia College Theatre Program faculty member Anne Libera, coordinator of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Comedy Writing and Performance.
Kaiser Ahmed
Mikhail Fiksel
Frances Maggio
Wilfredo Rivera
Brian Shaw
Stephanie Shaw
Panelists – all former students and/or collaborators of Patinkin’s – include Columbia College alum Kaiser Ahmed ’08, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Theatre Directing program and co-founder and artistic director of Chicago’s Jackalope Theatre Company; Tony Award-winning sound designer Mikhail Fiksel, a teacher in the Theatre Program’s BA Program in Theatre Design and Technology and recipient of the 2024 Michael Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration; Columbia College Theatre Program faculty member Frances Maggio, coordinator of the Theatre Program’s costume design program; dancer-choreographer Wilfredo Rivera, coordinator of the Theatre Program’s BA/BFA Program in Musical Theatre and co-founder and artistic director of Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre; Columbia College alum and faculty member Brian Shaw ’86, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Theatre and coordinator of the Theatre Program’s BA/BFA Program in Acting; and Columbia College alum and faculty member Stephanie Shaw ’92 (Theatre), MFA ’09 (Creative Writing), coordinator of the Theatre Program’s Theatre Directing Program.
