The Columbia College Chicago School of Theatre and Dance proudly congratulates Columbia College Chicago Theatre alum and former faculty member Joanie Schultz ’00, a graduate of the Theatre Directing program, on being honored with the prestigious Zelda Fichandler Award from the Stage Director and Choreographers Foundation. The 2025 Zelda Fichandler Award will be presented to Schultz with an unrestricted award of $5,000 from SDCF. Schultz will be recognized in a celebration at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company on April 6, 2026.

As previously reported in this blog, Schultz was named associate artistic director of the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, one of the nation’s top regional theatres, in 2021. Prior to joining the Cincinnati Playhouse staff, she served as artistic director of WaterTower Theatre in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, where she oversaw two years of diverse and award-winning work in 2017 and 2018. Prior to that, she served as associate artistic producer at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago. She has directed productions for numerous theatres in Chicago (including Victory Gardens, Steppenwolf Theatre, About Face Theatre, and Steep Theatre) and throughout the U.S. (including Kansas City Rep and Portland Center Stage). She holds a BA in theatre directing from Columbia College Chicago and an MFA in directing from Northwestern University, where she was mentored by Columbia College alum and honorary degree recipient Anna D. Shapiro ’90, HDR ’15, former artistic director of Steppenwolf Theatre.

The Stage Director and Choreographers Foundation, based in New York City, celebrates, develops, and supports professional stage directors and choreographers throughout every phase of their careers. Its Zelda Fichandler Award, established in 2009, acknowledges the profound impact the founders of regional theatre have had on the field, honoring their legacy through the recognition of the extraordinary directors and choreographers who are transforming the national arts landscape with their unique, creative work and deep investment in a community. The award is named in memory of Zelda Fichandler (1924 -2016), who dedicated her early career to the establishment of America’s regional theatre movement. In 1950 she founded Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and in 1968 she produced the Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway hit The Great White Hope, which became the first production to transfer from a regional theatre to Broadway. In 1975 Arena Stage was the first regional theatre to be recognized by the American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League with the Regional Theatre Tony Award for outstanding achievement. When Fichandler retired as producing artistic director of Arena Stage in 1990, she had achieved the longest tenure of any non-commercial producer in the annals of the American theatre, and in 1999 she became the first artistic leader outside of New York to be inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.