Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF) Is Accepting Nominations For The 2022 Zelda Fichandler Award

Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), the not-for-profit foundation of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), announced today that nominations for the Zelda Fichandler Award, for a director or choreographer who is transforming theatre in the Central Region, are now being accepted through July 18, 2022.

Named for a giant of the regional theatre movement, the Zelda Fichandler Award recognizes directors and choreographers who are in the heart of their creative lives; who demonstrate great accomplishment to-date and promise for the future; and who have made prominent achievements in the field with singular creativity and artistry and deep investment in a particular place outside of the New York arena. The Award is not to honor lifetime achievement. The goal of the Fichandler Award is to encourage those artists who have made a commitment to creating regional theatre.

Established in 2009, the Zelda Fichandler Award is SDCF's first award devoted to regional theatre in the United States. With this award, SDCF acknowledges the profound impact the founders of regional theatre have had on the field, honoring their legacy through the recognition of the extraordinary individuals who are transforming the national arts landscape with their unique and creative work.

The Fichandler Award is given annually on a rotating basis to a different region in the United States. In 2022, it will be given to a director or choreographer who has made, and who continues to make, a significant contribution to the community through extraordinary work in theatre in the Central Region of the United States, comprised of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Nominations will be accepted from all sources through Monday, July 18, 2022. Nominators need not be SDC Members, but nominees must be SDC Members, in good standing, who are not previous recipients of the Award. Late nominations and self-nominations will not be accepted. A short nomination form and detailed guidelines are available on the SDCF website. The Award will be presented at an awards ceremony in the coming year.

The Fichandler Award recipient receives an unrestricted award of $5,000 from SDCF. Past Zelda Fichandler Award recipients include Jonathan Moscone, then of California Shakespeare Theater in Orinda, CA (2009); Michael Halberstam of Writers Theatre in Glencoe, IL (2010); Blanka Zizka, of The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, PA (2011); Bill Rauch, then of Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, OR (2012); Charles Newell of Court Theatre in Chicago, IL (2013); Joseph Haj, then of PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill, NC (2014); Tim Dang, then of East West Players in Los Angeles, CA (2015); Lisa Portes of Chicago, IL (2016); Vivienne Benesch of PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill, NC (2017); Loretta Greco, then of Magic Theatre in San Francisco, CA (2018); Marcela Lorca of Ten Thousand Things Theater in St. Paul, MN (2019); Kamilah Forbes of the Apollo Theater in New York, NY (2020); and Mark Valdez, an LA-based director, writer, and cultural organizer (2021).