Guest: DOUG WAGER Topic: ZELDA FICHANDLER

DOUG WAGER is the former Artistic Director of the Arena Stage in Washington, DC, succeeding Zelda Fichandler where he served for twenty-five seasons as resident director, producing over two hundred productions and directing over 50 productions from 1975-2000 ranging from large-scale musicals to classics and new plays, world and American premieres. Mr. Wager currently serves as Artistic Director and Head of Directing for Temple University which he joined in 2004. He is the recipient of three Helen Hayes awards. His work has been seen in New York, both on and off Broadway, and at major regional theaters across the country. ZELDA FICHANDLER co-founded Arena Stage on August 16, 1950 with her husband, Thomas Fichandler.  She led Arena Stage for 40 years stepping down in 1991 producing more than 400 shows and directing more than 50 shows. In 1961 she opened the new Arena Stage Theater an 800 in the round building and the Kreeger Theater in 1970 and the Old Vat Room in 1976. She produced productions of Indians by Arthur Kopit, Moon Children by Michael Weller, and The Great White Hope on Broadway. It won a Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize. She became head of the Graduate Acting program  at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, a post she held until 2009. She also served as Artistic Director of the Acting Company founded by John Housman. She was awarded a National Medal of Arts by Bill Clinton in 1996, and in 1999 she was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.