Daisy Arden Fingerhut, known as Arden Fingerhut (1945–1994) was an American stage and lighting designer. She was also a theatre academic at

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...

Life

Arden Fingerhut was born in 1945, and grew up in

St. Louis Park, Minnesota St. Louis Park is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 50,010 at the 2020 census. It is a first-ring suburb immediately west of Minneapolis. Other adjacent cities include Edina, Golden Valley, Minnetonka, Ply ...

. She was an undergraduate at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

and received an M.F.A. in design from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

.Fingerhut, ''Theatre: Choice in Action'', p. ii. She married Dennis McHugh, and had a daughter Maude. Fingerhut designed the lighting for dozens of Broadway and off-Broadway productions, including '' Da'', ''

Bent Bent may refer to: Places * Bent, Iran, a city in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran * Bent District, an administrative subdivision of Iran * Bent, Netherlands, a village in the municipality of Rijnwoude, the Netherlands * Bent County, Colo ...

'', ''

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'', ''

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'' and ''

Driving Miss Daisy '' Driving Miss Daisy'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Alfred Uhry, based on his 1987 play of the same name. The film stars Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Aykroyd. Freeman reprised his ...

''. She also designed the lighting for regional companies such as the

Long Wharf Theatre Long Wharf Theatre is a nonprofit institution in New Haven, Connecticut, a pioneer in the not-for-profit regional theatre movement, the originator of several prominent plays, and a venue where many internationally known actors have appeared. Fou ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

, and the

Williamstown Theatre Festival The Williamstown Theatre Festival is a resident summer theater on the campus of Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1954 by Williams College news director Ralph Renzi and drama program chairman David C. Bryant. I ...

. In 1982 Fingerhut received an Obie Award for sustained excellence in

lighting design In theatre, a lighting designer (or LD) works with the director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and sound designer to create the lighting, atmosphere, and time of day for the production in response to the text while keeping ...

. From 1987 until her death in 1994 she was a professor of theatre at

, where she also served as a chairman of the theatre department. She was a trustee of the Williamstown Theatre Festival and a director of the

Theatre Communications Group Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is a non-profit service organization headquartered in New York City that promotes professional non-profit theatre in the United States. The organization also publishes ''American Theatre'' magazine and ''ARTSEA ...

in New York. Fingerhut died of

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...

at the

North Adams Regional Hospital North Adams Regional Hospital was a full-service community hospital in North Adams, Massachusetts. It served the Northern Berkshire communities of Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, Lanesborough, North Adams, Savoy, Williamstown and communit ...

on May 13, 1994.

Works

* ''Theatre: Choice in Action''. 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fingerhut, Arden 1945 births 1994 deaths American scenic designers Women scenic designers American lighting designers Williams College faculty Theatrologists