Arena Stage

The company was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1950 by Zelda and Thomas Fichandler and Edward Mangum.{{Cite web |date=2022-06-11 |title=Molly Smith to Retire from Arena Stage |url=https://www.americantheatre.org/2022/06/11/molly-smith-to-retire-from-arena-stage/ |access-date=2022-07-08 |website=AMERICAN THEATRE |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Marks |first=Peter |date=June 10, 2022 |title=Molly Smith announces an exit after 25 years leading Arena Stage |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/06/10/molly-smith-retiring-arena/ |newspaper=The Washington Post}} Its first home was the Hippodrome Theatre, a former movie house.{{Cite web |last=Brall |first=Susan |date=2020-05-04 |title=Theatre News: 'Arena Stage Turns 70' Part I: Arena Stage in the 20th Century-The First 50 Years |url=https://mdtheatreguide.com/2020/05/theatre-news-arena-stage-turns-70-part-i-arena-stage-in-the-20th-century-the-first-50-years/ |access-date=2022-07-14 |website=Maryland Theatre Guide |language=en-US}} In 1956, the company moved into the gymnasium of the old Heurich Brewery in Foggy Bottom; the theater was nicknamed "The Old Vat."{{cite book|last=Peck|first=Garrett|title=Capital Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in Washington, D.C.|year=2014|publisher=The History Press|location=Charleston, SC|isbn=978-1626194410|page=126}}

In 1960, the company moved into its current complex on Sixth Street, which was designed for them by Chicago architect Harry Weese. He also designed the Arena's Kreeger Theater, which opened in 1970. In 1966, Robert Alexander joined the company and created the Living Stage as a social outreach improvisational theater. From 2008 to 2010, the complex was renovated and a third theatre was added, together with a variety of support spaces. The new complex, with the theatres under a glass skin, was named as the Mead Center for American Theater. Its outdoor terrace overlooks the Southwest Waterfront.

Arena was the first theatre in D.C. to be racially integrated.{{Cite web |title=Arena Stage |url=https://americantheatrewing.org/working-in-the-theatre/arena-stage/ |access-date=2022-07-19 |website=The American Theatre Wing |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=America in the Round {{!}} University of Iowa Press - The University of Iowa |url=https://uipress.uiowa.edu/books/america-round |access-date=2022-09-14 |website=uipress.uiowa.edu |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Arena Stage {{!}} Washington, DC, USA {{!}} Entertainment |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/washington-dc/capitol-hill-south-dc/entertainment/arena-stage/a/poi-ent/1098196/1329650 |access-date=2022-09-14 |website=www.lonelyplanet.com |language=en}} Its production The Great White Hope, which opened at Arena Stage in 1967, was transferred to Broadway with its original cast, including James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander in the lead roles. Arena was the first regional theater to transfer a production to Broadway. When Arena Stage reprised the play in 2000 as part of its 50th-anniversary celebration, Mahershala Ali was cast as the male lead.{{Cite web |date=2017-02-28 |title=Mahershala Ali's Professional Acting Debut Was at Arena Stage - Washingtonian |url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2017/02/28/oscar-winner-mahershala-alis-professional-acting-debut-was-at-arena-stage/ |access-date=2022-07-19 |language=en-US}} It was his first professional role.

In 1968, the company received a $250,000 grant from the Ford Foundation.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QToDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22arena+stage%22+black+actors&pg=PA70 |title=Black World/Negro Digest |date=August 1968 |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company |language=en}} Part of it was to be used for the training of black actors. In 1987, Arena hosted a symposium on nontraditional casting.{{Cite news |last=Rosenfeld |first=Megan |date=December 30, 1990 |title=THEATER 1990 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1990/12/30/theater-1990/7417d726-5699-4314-9301-c63c27bc8736/ |newspaper=The Washington Post}} In 1989, the company received a $1 million grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to train minority actors, directors, designers and administrators, and to produce plays from non-white cultures.

In the latter half of the 20th century, the company traveled abroad. In 1973, they performed Thornton Wilder's Our Town and Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee's Inherit the Wind in the Soviet Union after being encouraged by the U.S. State Department to do so. This made them the first regional theater to present U.S. plays in the USSR.

In 1980 Arena Stage was the first American theater company to be invited to the Hong Kong Arts Festival. It attended the Israel Festival in Jerusalem in 1987. In the U.S., to promote cultural diversity, Zelda Fichandler included plays from the Soviet Union, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Austria, East and West Germany, France, Switzerland, England, Canada, and Australia in the theater's repertoire. In 1991, Arena raised $4 million for a cultural diversity grant. This became the Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship Program.

In 1981, Arena developed Audio Description for visually impaired audience members. This made the company the first theater to create audio-described performances.

In 1976, Arena Stage became the first theater outside New York to receive a special Tony Award for theatrical excellence.

In 2016, artistic director Molly Smith announced the Power Plays initiative to commission 25 original plays and musicals over the next 10 years to showcase American history from 1776 to modern day.{{Cite web |date=2016-11-30 |title=Getting Political: Arena Stage Launches Power Plays Initiative |url=https://www.americantheatre.org/2016/11/30/getting-political-arena-stage-launches-power-plays-initiative/ |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=AMERICAN THEATRE |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Rabinowitz |first=Chloe |title=Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith to Retire in 2023 |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/washington-dc/article/Arena-Stage-Artistic-Director-Molly-Smith-to-Retire-in-2023-20220610 |access-date=2022-09-19 |website=BroadwayWorld.com |language=en}} These have included works by Jacqueline Lawton, Eve Ensler, Rajiv Joseph, Mary Kathryn Nagle, Sarah Ruhl, Lawrence Wright, Eduardo Machado, Aaron Posner, John Strand, Craig Lucas, Kenneth Lin, and Nathan Alan Davis.{{Cite web |last=Rabinowitz |first=Chloe |title=Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith to Retire in 2023 |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/washington-dc/article/Arena-Stage-Artistic-Director-Molly-Smith-to-Retire-in-2023-20220610 |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=BroadwayWorld.com |language=en}}

During the coronavirus pandemic, Arena Stage launched the Artists Marketplace as a way for people to commission or purchase work from the artists who have worked with the company.{{Cite web |date=2020-06-24 |title=Arena Stage Launches Artists Marketplace |url=https://www.americantheatre.org/2020/06/24/arena-stage-launches-artists-marketplace/ |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=AMERICAN THEATRE |language=en-US}}

The company also produced three films: May 22, 2020, a docudrama that follows D.C.-Maryland-Virginia residents and captures a day in their lives during the pandemic;{{Cite web |last=Siegel |first=David |date=2020-06-15 |title=In 'May 22, 2020' from Arena Stage, a day in the life of the COVID DMV |url=https://dctheaterarts.org/2020/06/15/in-may-22-2020-from-arena-stage-a-day-in-the-life-of-the-covid-dmv/ |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=DC Theater Arts |language=en-US}} Inside Voices, which features the stories of kids during the pandemic;{{Cite web |date=2020-06-08 |title=Arena Stage presents virtual summer state 'Looking Forward' |url=https://wtop.com/entertainment/2020/06/arena-stage-presents-virtual-summer-state-looking-forward/ |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=WTOP News |language=en}} and The 51st State, about D.C. statehood issues.{{Cite web |last=Fraley |first=Jason |date=September 16, 2020 |title=Arena Stage tackles DC statehood, racism in streaming film '51st State' |url=https://wtop.com/entertainment/2020/09/arena-stage-tackles-dc-statehood-racism-in-livestream-51st-state/}}

In 2021, the company released a three-part commissioned music series called Arena Riffs as part of its reopening.{{Cite web |date=2021-05-21 |title=DC Theater Reopenings: What We Know So Far - Washingtonian |url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2021/05/21/dc-theater-reopenings/ |access-date=2022-08-20 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Cristi |first=A. A. |title=Arena's Commissioned Music Series, Arena Riffs, Begins Next Week |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/washington-dc/article/Arenas-Commissioned-Music-Series-Arena-Riffs-Begins-Next-Week-20210311 |access-date=2022-09-16 |website=BroadwayWorld.com |language=en}}

File:ArenaStage12-2020.jpg

File:Arena Stage 2011.jpgA major renovation of the facility was undertaken from 2008 through 2010.{{Cite web |title=Arena Stage Renovation and Expansion, Washington, D.C. {{!}} 2010-12-01 {{!}} ENR {{!}} Engineering News-Record |url=https://www.enr.com/articles/18694-arena-stage-renovation-and-expansion-washington-d-c |access-date=2022-08-23 |website=www.enr.com |language=en}} The architect for the project was Bing Thom Architects of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, who contracted Fast + Epp consulting engineers to design the main columns for the building.{{cite web|url=http://www.structuremag.org/article.aspx?articleID=1397|title=Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater: Excellence, Creativity and Innovation|first=Gerald|last=Epp|date=February 2012|access-date=4 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130131907/http://structuremag.org/article.aspx?articleID=1397 |archive-date=30 November 2012}} During the renovation, Arena Stage temporarily moved to the Crystal Forum and the Lincoln Theatre.

The Arena's existing theaters, the Fichandler Stage and the Kreeger Theater, were enclosed under a glass "skin" together with a new theater, the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle. The entire $135 million complex was renamed "Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater" in honor of supporters Gilbert and Jaylee Mead.{{cite news|last=Marks|first=Peters|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/09/AR2008040904259.html|title=Arena Stage to Expand Its Season From Eight to 10 Plays This Fall|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=10 April 2008}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/theaters/arena-stage-at-the-mead-center,1161217/critic-review.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110212020718/http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/theaters/arena-stage-at-the-mead-center,1161217/critic-review.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 12, 2011|newspaper=Washington Post|date=February 17, 2010|page=C1|title=A new First Act|first=Peter|last=Marks}} The new building also includes a central lobby, restaurant, and the Catwalk Cafe, and such support spaces as rehearsal rooms, classrooms, production shops, and offices.{{cite news |last=Zongker |first=Brett (Associated Press) |date=October 28, 2010 |title=DC's Arena Stage opens $135M home with big plans |newspaper=Boston.com |url=http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2010/10/28/dcs_arena_stage_opens_135m_home_with_big_plans/ |url-status=dead |access-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104033134/http://archive.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2010/10/28/dcs_arena_stage_opens_135m_home_with_big_plans/ |archive-date=January 4, 2018}}{{cite web |last=Russell |first=James |date=27 October 2010 |title=Arena Stage 135 Million DC Revamp Makes Concrete Sexy |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-27/arena-stage-135-million-d-c-revamp-makes-concrete-sexy-james-s-russell.html |work=bloomberg.com |publisher=Bloomberg L.P}}BWW News Desk. [http://dc.broadwayworld.com/article/Arena-Stage-Updates-Concessions-and-Dining-Options-with-Catwalk-Cafe-20110810# "Arena Stage Updates Concessions and Dining Options with Catwalk Cafe"], broadwayworld.com, 10 August 2011{{Cite web |last=Architects |first=Thom |date=February 3, 2011 |title=Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater |url=https://www.architectmagazine.com/project-gallery/arena-stage-at-the-mead-center-for-american-theater_o |access-date=2022-08-24 |website=www.architectmagazine.com}} The restaurant, Richard's Place, is closed for the 2021–2022 season.{{Cite web |title=Cafe-Parking - Complete Your Experience |url=https://www.arenastage.org/plan-your-visit/cafe-and-parking/ |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=www.arenastage.org |language=en}}

For the first time in the company's history, all staff and operations were joined under one unifying roof. The three-stage theater complex is now the second-largest performing arts center in Washington, DC, after the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It is the largest regional theater in D.C. Arena Stage re-opened in October 2010 with Oklahoma!.

The capacity of its three theaters follows:

• The Fichandler Stage, a theater in the round, seating 680.
• The Kreeger Theater, a modified thrust stage theater, seating 510.
• The Kogod Cradle, a 202-seat space dedicated to new American productions.{{Cite web |author=BWW News Desk |title=Arena Stage to Start Construction on $125-Million Renovation |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/washington-dc/article/Arena-Stage-to-Start-Construction-on-125Million-Renovation-20071004 |access-date=2022-09-19 |website=BroadwayWorld.com |language=en}}

One of the founders, Zelda Fichandler, was the company's artistic director from its founding through the 1990/91 season. Douglas C. Wager succeeded her for the 1991/92 through 1997/98 seasons. Molly Smith, assumed those duties beginning with the 1998/99 season.Paller, Rebecca.[http://www.playbill.com/features/article/64670-From-Alaska-to-DC-With-Arena-Stages-New-Director-Molly-D-Smith "From Alaska to DC With Arena Stage's New Director, Molly D. Smith"], Playbill: Arena Stage, February 5, 1998 In June 2022, she announced she would retire and leave Arena Stage in July 2023. The current Artistic Director is Hana S. Sharif.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater/2023/11/17/arena-stage-director-hana-sharif/]

• Camp David by Lawence Wright
• Celia and Fidel by Eduardo Machado
• Change Agent by Craig Lucas
• Dear Evan Hansen
• Exclusion by Kenneth Lin
• The High Ground by Nathan Alan Davis
• JQA by Aaron Posner
• Loose Ends by Michael Wellerhttps://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/loose-ends-3796
• The Originalist by John Strand
• Tintypes, conceived by Mary Kyte with Mel Marvin and Gary Pearle

The Washingtonian magazine, as part of its 50th anniversary commemoration, identified the Arena Stage's 1967 production of The Great White Hope as one of "50 Moments That Shaped Washington, DC".{{cite news|title=50 Moments That Shaped Washington, DC|url=http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/washingtonian_at_50/then-and-now/50-moments-that-shaped-washington-dc.php|access-date=17 October 2015|work=Washingtonian|date=30 September 2015}} The play received a lot of attention, some of it negative, because it featured an interracial relationship between James Earl Jones, then a new actor, and Jane Alexander. It was one of the first regional-theater productions to move to Broadway. There the production won several Tony Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize. It was also adapted as a film. Zelda Fichandler worked with the writer of the play for a year to make it production-ready. The Arena did not earn a share of the play's Broadway and film profits.

{{Portal|Theatre}}

• Theater in Washington D.C.
• Architecture of Washington, D.C.

A collection of the Arena Stage Records and materials is housed at the [https://scrc.gmu.edu George Mason University Special Collections Research Center].{{Cite web |last=Libraries |first=George Mason |date=August 18, 2022 |title=Guide to the Arena Stage records, 1949-2010 |url=https://scrc.gmu.edu/finding_aids/arenastage.html}} The Research Center also houses materials related to individuals involved with the theater, including personal records of [https://scrc.gmu.edu/finding_aids/fichandlerz.html Zelda Fichandler's], [https://scrc.gmu.edu/finding_aids/fichandlert.html Thomas Fichandler's papers], the [https://scrc.gmu.edu/finding_aids/kitch.html Ken Kitch papers], and materials relating to the [https://scrc.gmu.edu/finding_aids/livingstage.html Living Stage].

{{Reflist|}}

• [http://www.arenastage.org Arena Stage official website]
• {{IBDB name}}
• {{Twitter | id= arenastage | name= Arena Stage }}
• {{Facebook | id= arenastage | name= Arena Stage }}
• {{Instagram | id= arenastage | name= Arena Stage }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170320143421/http://www.andrewmcgibbonphotography.com/arena-stage Google Virtual Tour of Arena Stage]

{{TonyAward RegionalTheatre 1976-2000}}

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Category:1950 establishments in Washington, D.C.

Category:League of Resident Theatres

Category:League of Washington Theatres

Category:Members of the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington

Category:Performing groups established in 1950

Category:Regional theatre in the United States

Category:Theatre companies in Washington, D.C.

Category:Theatres in Washington, D.C.

Category:Tony Award winners