Zelda Fichandler (née Diamond; September 18, 1924 – July 29, 2016) was an American stage producer,

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and educator.

Life and career

Zelda Fichandler came from a family that emigrated from Russia when she was an infant. Her father, Harry Diamond, was a brilliant scientist who created the

proximity fuse A proximity fuze (or fuse) is a Fuze (munitions), fuze that detonates an Explosive material, explosive device automatically when the distance to the target becomes smaller than a predetermined value. Proximity fuzes are designed for targets such ...

. Zelda started working in pursuing sciences until the day that she spilled hydrochloric acid down her shirt and burned herself; she decided to pursue acting instead. At age 4, she moved from Boston area to

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

as her father accepted a job at the

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...

. Aged 8, she performed as Helga in ''Helga and the White Peacock'' at the Rose Robison Cowen’s Studio for Children's Theatre. Zelda Diamond's husband, Thomas C. Fichandler (August 9, 1915 – March 16, 1997), along with Edward Mangum, a professor of theater at George Washington University and Zelda's teacher, cofounded the

Arena Stage Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...

theatre in 1950 in Washington. It was the city's first integrated theater, she hired actors and performers regardless of race or color. In the 1950s this was a huge statement as segregation was the norm. The first location for the Arena was at the Hippodrome, at Ninth Street and New York Avenue NW in a tiny former art-film cinema. The first production the company staged, was Oliver Goldsmith’s eighteenth-century comedy, “She stoops to Conquer”. Her first play started out as simply a play for the sake and admiration for the arts, turned to more influential and statement making topics – such as racism – as they gained a reputation. A list of her earlier premiers that got her to that point include: ''She Stoops to Conquer'' (1950), ''The Great White Hope'' (1967), ''Indians'' (1969), ''Moonchildren'' (1971), ''Tintypes'' (1979). As time passed, the company developed a dedicated audience and it quickly outgrew its initial space. As audiences grew, the theatre moved to "The Old Vat Theatre" which the company created in an abandoned distillery on the Potomac riverside. Then they eventually went to a larger theatre complex to get even more room in order to house the company. Harry Weese, FAIA and legendary designer of Washington, D.C.'s Metro System and stations designed the purpose built theater complex on Maine Avenue in 1961 and added to in 1972. Zelda Fichandler served as Arena's 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. In 1961, she was able to direct Howard Sackler’s interracial drama “The Great White Hope,” which starred then-newcomers James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander. It was the first play to start as a regional theatre production, then transfer to Broadway. The Broadway performance won The Tony Award and the Best Pulitzer Prize for drama. The Arena Theatre Company in 1976 also won the Tony for Outstanding Regional Theatre. In 1973, the Arena became the first regional Theatre to be chosen by the US Department of state to perform in the Soviet Union. She showed her production of Inherit the Wind, a play beginning with a man who is thrown into jail for teaching evolution. Fichandler directed numerous plays at Arena Stage including ''

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a montag ...

'', ''

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the dir ...

'', ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' (Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having bee ...

'' and ''

Six Characters in Search of an Author ''Six Characters in Search of an Author'' ( it, Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore, link=no ) is an Italian play by Luigi Pirandello, written and first performed in 1921. An absurdist fiction, absurdist metatheatrical, metatheatric play about th ...

''. Several of her Arena Stage productions toured internationally, including '' Inherit the Wind'' and ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as a ...

''. From 1984 until 2009 Fichandler was chair of the graduate acting program and Master Teacher of Acting and Directing at the

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. From 1991–94, she was artistic director of

The Acting Company The Acting Company is a professional theater company that tours the United States annually, staging and performing one or two plays in as many as fifty cities, often with runs of only one or two nights. Drama critic Mel Gussow has called it "the ma ...

. "Fichandler’s directing is characterized by intensive study and preparation. She all but psychoanalyzes the character she is studying and physically describes the emotions of the characters onstage with the utmost clarity. That is why she was so remarked for her ability to bring the actors to that level of excellence in her productions." Her honors and awards include the Common Wealth Award for distinguished service in the dramatic arts (1985); the

Helen Hayes Award The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...

for directing ''

'' (1988); and the

National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and ar ...

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. In 2002, Zelda delivered The Americans for the Arts 15th Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy at the Kennedy Center. In 2009, she received the Foremother Award from the

National Center for Health Research The National Center for Health Research (formerly known as the National Research Center for Women & Families) is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization founded in 1999, providing health-related services such as providing free informatio ...

Fichandler died in her home on July 29, 2016, in Washington, D.C., due to complications from congestive

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

. She was 91 years old.

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."Quotation
thinkexist.com; accessed

References

External links/sources

NYU Tisch School of the Arts website; accessed June 16, 2014.

nytimes.com, December 1, 1985.

washingtonpost.com; accessed July 26, 2015.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fichandler, Zelda 1924 births 2016 deaths American theatre directors American theatre managers and producers United States National Medal of Arts recipients Tisch School of the Arts faculty People from Washington, D.C. Cornell University alumni Soviet emigrants to the United States Women theatre directors Women theatre managers and producers

Life and career

Quote

References

Further reading

External links/sources