Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alumnus Joseph Sikora ’98, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Acting, is wrapping up his six-season run as costar of the Starz series Power, about two New York drug kingpins. In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times published January 22, 2020, to promote the series’ February 9 finale, he hinted that he might star in a spinoff focused on his character Tommy Egan now that Power is coming to an end. “From your lips to God’s ears,” he told reporter Kathy Chaney when she suggested that possibility.

“Playing Tommy was a challenge and delight for the Columbia College grad,” writes Chaney. “What he brought to the character prompted writers to sometimes go in a different direction. ‘I always read the material and try to understand the writers so I can honor their work as best as I can, then create a fully three-dimensional, 360-degree view of that character. Whether our show went one season or six, I feel like Tommy, who I had Tommy be, never changed. The writers started writing different scenarios for that man I created,’ Sikora said.”

Added Chaney: “The former Norwood Park and Jefferson Park resident said if it weren’t for one of his instructors, Jeff Ginsberg at Columbia, he would’ve ended up with the Chicago Fire Department or in another position with the city. Ginsberg encouraged him to follow his acting dreams and never look back.”

You can read the full interview here.

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.