Zelda Fichlander) rose from the ashes, but the loss of what had been a thriving community was never truly acknowledged or mourned. The Southwest Project provided a creative opportunity for community residents—past and present—to come together to remember the loss and try to lay ties for the future. Her final completed play was an adaptation of the South African folktale. Abiyoyo: Now and Then, for young children, Abiyoyo premiered at the Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD in February 2001. In her lifetime, Rice was honored with the 1993 Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical, for her work in dancer-choreographer Dianne McIntrye's In Living Color: A Gullah Story at Theatre of the First Amendment; the Ruby Dee Award for her solo Lifeline/I Might Have Been Queen; and the Minnesota/St. Paul Critics Recognition for Best Actress. In 2002, after a short illness, she succumbed to an infection brought on by cancer surgery, surrounded by a host of friends and family members. Longtime colleagues Janet Stanford and Jennifer L. Nelson penned this remembrance for American Theater Magazine Rebecca challenged her colleagues to risk living their art, to expose it to the light of day and make deep and personal contact with the audience. Her joy in works of the imagination was contagious and inspired her students to leap into unknown territory searching for their own artistic voices… Rebecca was a woman people wanted to have bless their babies, artistic ones and real ones alike. A documentary, entitled Walk With Me, features her creative contributions. References Selected writings Barton, Peter. Staying Power: Performing Artists Talk About Their Lives. New York: Dial Press, 1980. Cleveland, William. "Rebecca Rice: Building Bridges." Art in Other Places: Artists at Work in America's Community and Social Institution. Amherst: Arts Extension Service Press, 2000. 259–71. Rice, Rebecca. "Losing Faith (or Gaining Perspective)." Reimaging America: The Arts of Social Change. Ed. Mark O'Brien and Craig Little. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1990. 205–13. 1947 births African-American actresses Catholic University of America faculty 2002 deaths American musical theatre actresses 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers American women academics 20th-century African-American women singers 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women