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The Victory Gardens Biograph Theater has announced that it will name its new 109-seat theater the Richard Christiansen Theater, in honor of the legendary Chicago theater critic, according to a report in The Chicago Sun-Times. The second-floor studio theater will be officially named at a special fund-raising celebration on March 1 at the theater.

Christiansen, who began his career at the Chicago Daily News, was theater critic for The Chicago Tribune from 1978 until his retirement in 2002. While working for the paper, first as critic at large and later as chief critic, Christiansen championed the burgeoning Off-Loop theater community, new theaters such as Steppenwolf Theater Company, and emerging artists such as Frank Galati, John Malkovich, David Mamet, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Sinise, and Mary Zimmerman.

For further information, visit: www.victorygardens.org.