Established in 1950, the Arena Stage is considered a pioneer of the American regional theater movement.The trio of Zelda and Tom Fichandler and Edward Mangum opened a 247-seat theater in the Hippodrome, a converted movie house on New York Avenue. It was the first professional, desegregated theater in the District.

By 1955, the Fichandlers had taken sole ownership and the theater moved to a 500-seat home in the old Heurich Brewery in Foggy Bottom.