Zelda Fichandler

Who is Zelda Fichandler?

Zelda Fichandler 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.. it was the first integrated theater in Washington At age 4 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. Fichandler, along with her late husband Thomas C. Fichandler, and Edward Mangum, co-founded Arena Stage in 1950. Zelda Fichandler served as its artistic director from then 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.