Zelda Fichandler

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Early life

Zelda Fichandler (born September 18, 1924 Boston Mass) is an American stage producer, director, and educator daughter of Harry Diamond, best known as cofounder and longtime artistic director of the Arena Stage theatre in Washington, D.C..[1] It was the first integrated theater in Washington. [2] At age 4, she moved from Boston area to Washington DC as her father accepted a job at the National Bureau of Standards. At age 8 Fichandler performed as Helga in Helga and the White Peacock at the Rose Robison Cowen’s Studio for Children's Theatre.[1] Fichandler, along with her late husband Thomas C. Fichandler (born: August 9, 1915,died: March 16, 1997),[2] and Edward Mangum, co-founded Arena Stage in 1950, in a tiny former art-film cinema. As audiences grew, the theatre moved to "The Old Vat Theatre" which the company created in an abandoned distillery on the Potomac riverside. Finally, the Fichandlers were able to build a new theatre complex. Zelda Fichandler served as Arena's its artistic director from the theatre's inception until her retirement at the end of the 1990-91 season. During that time, Arena Stage became known as one of America's premier regional theatres. Fichandler directed numerous plays at Arena Stage including Death of a Salesman, Uncle Vanya, A Doll's House and Six Characters in Search of an Author. Several of her Arena Stage productions toured internationally, including Inherit the Wind and The Crucible.

Since 1984, Fichandler has been chair of the graduate acting program and Master Teacher of Acting and Directing at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. From 1991-94, she was artistic director of The Acting Company. [citation needed]

Among Fichandler's many honors and awards have been the Common Wealth Award for distinguished service in the dramatic arts (1985); the Helen Hayes Award for directing The Crucible (1988); and the National Medal of Arts in 1996. She was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1999, the first artistic leader outside of New York to be so honored. [citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 fichandler, Zelda. "Zelda Fichandler". Autobiography. Theater Communications Group. Retrieved March 7, 2013. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 GUSSOW, MEL (March 19, 1997). "Thomas Fichandler, Washington Theater's Executive Director, 81". The New York Times. 

Quote

"There is a hunger to see the human presence acted out. As long as that need remains, people will find a way to do theater."

External links/sources

Authority control
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.