Columbia College Chicago Theatre alum Joseph Sikora in the Columbia College Chicago School of Theatre and Dance’s Getz Theatre Center Courtyard Theatre.

Columbia College Chicago Theatre alumnus Joseph Sikora ’98, a graduate of the Theatre Program’s BA Program in Acting, will be a featured speaker at Columbia’s commencement ceremony for graduating students majoring in American Sign Language, audio arts, dance, design, fine arts, illustration, interactive arts and media, music, photography, and theatre. The commencement event takes place Sunday, May 18, at at 4:30 PM at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago. Sikora will receive an Honorary Doctorate at the event.

As previously reported in this blog, Sikora is best known for his breakout role as Tommy Egan in the hit Starz crime drama Power and its spinoff Power Book IV: Force. In addition to the Power franchise, his television credits include standout roles in Ozark, Boardwalk Empire, Law & Order: SVU, Chicago P.D., The Good Wife, Grey’s Anatomy, and Monk. His feature-film credits include roles in Rudy, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Charlie Wilson’s War, Shutter Island, Jack Reacher, and Jacob’s Ladder.

As previously reported in this blog, Sikora’s acting career began when he was a child in Chicago and played the title role in Touchstone Theatre’s production of The Little Prince. As an adult, he has appeared on Chicago stages in productions at Goodman, Lookingglass, Chicago Shakespeare, and Shattered Globe theatres. He was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award (Chicago’s top theatre award) for Actor in a Principal Role for his performance in Shattered Globe’s 1999 production Frozen Assets. He also costarred with fellow Chicago actor David Schwimmer in a 2006 Broadway production of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.

Joseph SIkora

As previously reported in this blog, Sikora – a Chicago native – took time off from his Chicago location shooting for Power in October 2022 when he returned to Columbia College for a “fireside chat” with students in the Sheldon Patinkin Theatre of the Getz Theatre Center of Columbia College in Chicago’s South Loop. The event was a joint presentation of the Theatre Department and the Columbia College Alumni Network. Video excerpts of Sikora’s conversation with faculty member Susan Padveen are posted on the college’s website along with a report on the event. To read the report and view the video, click here.