After more than two decades of involvement with Season of Concern Chicago, Michael Ryczek announced late last month that he is stepping down as its managing director. Ryczek plans to leave the local nonprofit and fund-raising organization on April 1, 2025.
“I think it’s just time,” Ryczek said. “Having weathered the storm through the COVID years and wanting to make sure that the organization was in good shape—and it’s coming back pretty strong—we have a really strong board, so I feel really confident that they will find somebody who can take us to the next phase of our existence.”
Season of Concern was created in 1987 as a direct response Chicago-area theater makers who were affected by HIV/AIDS. At the time, Ryczek was the founder and artistic director of Reflections Theatre in Chicago, and he wanted to help out his fellow LGBTQ+ community members who were disproportionately ill and dying from AIDS-related causes.
Ryczek joined Season of Concern’s volunteer board of directors in 1994. He then served as the board president from 2004 to 2010.
“The very first collection from the theater community in response to HIV/AIDS was the literal passing of a hat,” Ryczek said. “So, people would donate change and dollars—whatever they could after a performance—and that money at that time could be used toward buying like meals on wheels or whatever help we could offer to those in the community who were suffering from the disease.”
With the development and medical availability of protease inhibitors in 1996 that helped to prolong the lives of people living with HIV, Season of Concern then expanded its mission beyond HIV/AIDS direct care organizations. Season of Concern also offered financial assistance for any local theater artist (both professional union members through Actors’ Equity and non-Equity performers) who had been impacted by illness, injury or other circumstances that prevent them from working.
Ryczek rotated off the board of Season of Concern in 2010 when he got an administrative and teaching job at Columbia College Chicago. But when Ryczek’s Columbia College position was eliminated in 2018, he applied for and was hired as Season of Concern’s managing director.
In that position, Ryczek was able to draw from his other previous jobs as managing director for Lookingglass Theatre, assistant to the CEO of the Auditorium Theatre and the manager of marketing for the Theatre Center at Northwestern University.
The managing director is Season of Concern’s only paid staff position, and Ryczek said it is focused on direct fund-raising. The managing director also works closely with the board of directors, which has different committees for marketing, outreach and other specialties.
Since its inception, Season of Concern has provided more than $3 million in aid. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Ryczek said around 25 regular theater companies that solicited post-show donations over the holiday season would collect upwards of $200,000 annually.
Ryczek said Season of Concern and its participating theater companies aren’t quite back to those levels just yet, but he was heartened that fund-raising efforts were rebounding. For example, Ryczek was heartened by the return last May of Second City Divas: A Concert for Season of Concern after a five-year absence.
Marcelle McVay, president of Seasons of Concern’s board of directors, offered praise to Ryczek over his leadership during the difficult pandemic years. She also highlighted Ryczek’s efforts to create an ongoing emergency fund named in memory of late Chicago stage manager and Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble member Malcolm Ewen.
“Over the last seven and a half years, Michael has been our spokesperson, our producer, our fundraiser and a resource for theater-workers (union and non-union) who cannot work due to illness or injury, as well as those who are dealing with one-time emergencies,” said McVay in a statement.
At the age of 66, Ryczek is stepping down from Season of Concern because he feels the organization needs a new leader who is younger, and more in tune with the times.
“I’ve been doing marketing for a long time, but there are so many new platforms,” Ryczek said. “If we’re going to continue to do good, we need to reach this next generation, let them know that we’re here, let them know what we do and also encourage audience members to continue to let us thrive.”
At the same time, Ryczek also hopes that his successor as managing director won’t lose sight of the origins of Season of Concern, and to fight for the folks that the organization was created to help.
“I’m so thrilled and proud that the LGBTQ+ community has expanded and includes so much diversity,” Ryczek said. “I think it is important that we continue to educate this next generation of people of what it is we fought for—not only for their rights as human beings—but how important it is to be a part of a movement if you don’t feel like the government is giving you enough attention.”
For more information, visit SeasonOfConcern.org.