TSOA’s Zelda Fichandler Directs Awake and Sing! at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.

By Richard Pierce

In December, Zelda Fichandler, chair of the Graduate Acting Program in the Tisch School of the Arts (TSOA) since 1984, returned to her home theatre in Washington, D.C. after nearly a 10-year absence to direct a production of the Depression-era play Awake and Sing! by Clifford Odets. Washington critics and theatergoers seemed very pleased that she returned.

“What a peachy gesture by Arena Stage inviting Zelda Fichandler back for another session in her old, beloved playground,” wrote Peter Marks in his review of the play for The Washington Post. “Her return to the director’s seat for [this] finely tuned revival is a significant occasion. [It] invites an intriguing merger of the spirits of a pioneering dramatist and a visionary director.”

Fichandler, co-founder and producing director of Arena Stage from 1950 to 1990, is considered to have been instrumental in the creation of regional theater in the United States. In 1997, President Bill Clinton awarded her a National Medal of the Arts, the country’s highest award for work in the arts. She was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1998.

“I’m happy that Arena shared my enthusiasm for this play and invited me to explore it for contemporary audiences,” says Fichandler.

The play, celebrating youthful energy and endurance in the face of poverty, is set in a humble New York apartment housing the Bergers, a proud Jewish family. When each day during the Great Depression seems like a struggle, the Bergers work to maintain their cultural traditions and keep the family together.

Fichandler’s production includes TSOA alumni in both the cast and on the production team. Among the Graduate Acting Program alumni cast members are Richard Canzano playing the part of Sam, Adam Dannheisser as Moe, and Adam Green as Ralph. Production team members from TSOA are Laurence Maslon, dramaturg, who is also a professor in Graduate Acting; Marc Gwinn, sound designer and alumnus of the Drama Department and currently an adjunct in Undergraduate Drama; Deborah Hecht, speech and vocal coach, who is a professor in Graduate Acting; Allen Lee Hughes, lighting designer, who is a professor in the Department of Design for Stage and Film; and Andromache Chalfant, scenic designer, who is an alumnus of the Department of Design for Stage and Film.

Awake and Sing! runs through Mar. 5 at Arena Stage. For more information on the production, visit www.arenastage.org.