9 moments that created one of America’s most important theaters

When the curtain rose on Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., in 1950, it was as if a spotlight was being switched on for live theater across America. Under the stewardship of Arena’s founding artistic director Zelda Fichandler, a 247-seat performance space in a former movie and burlesque house, the Hippodrome, on a then-rundown stretch of K Street NW near Mount Vernon Square, would prefigure an astonishing new era for plays and musicals in this country.

In tandem with a handful of other visionaries in a few select cities — Dallas, for example, was another early hotbed — Fichandler set in motion what would become known as the regional theater movement. Her singular drive and remarkable artistry was of a kind that birthed slews of theaters and inspired generations of playwrights, designers and