Zelda Fichandler (née Diamond; September 18, 1924 – July 29, 2016) was an American stage producer, director and educator.
[2] At age 4, she moved from Boston area to Washington D.C. as her father accepted a job at the National Bureau of Standards.
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.
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).
[9] Zelda Fichandler served as Arena's artistic director from the theatre's inception until her retirement at the end of the 1990–91 season.
[10] 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.
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.
[12] In 2009, she received the Foremother Award from the National Center for Health Research[15] Fichandler died in her home on July 29, 2016, in Washington, D.C., due to complications from congestive heart failure.