Worthington High Schools Alumni Club - Deceased Classmates
First Name
Nancy E.
Maiden Name
Last Name
Rhodes
Passing Date
1/25/2025
Class Attended
1964
High School
Worthington High School
Nancy Rhodes, esteemed director, librettist, author, and co-founder of Encompass New Opera Theatre, passed away on January 25, 2025. As Artistic Director of Encompass for nearly 50 years, she was a tireless advocate for new opera, bringing over 68 fully staged productions to life and shaping the landscape of contemporary American opera. A visionary director, Rhodes staged the world premiere of Kirke Mechem’s Tartuffe for San Francisco Opera, Virgil Thomson’s Lord Byron at Alice Tully Hall, and Charles Fussell’s The Astronaut’s Tale at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Her work extended internationally to Stockholm, Oslo, Ankara, Istanbul, Amsterdam, and Albania. At Encompass, she directed landmark productions including Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein’s The Mother of Us All, Mark Blitzstein’s Regina, Benjamin Britten’s Phaedra, and the American premiere of George Antheil’s jazz opera Transatlantic. She also co-conceived and directed Only Heaven by Ricky Ian Gordon and helmed productions such as Angel of the Amazon by Evan Mack and Grigori Frid’s, The Diary of Anne Frank. She wrote the one-act play Ocean Dream that was published in the book Facing Forward by Leah D. Frank and performed in Finland. Rhodes trained in theater, fine arts, and English speech at New York University and Tisch School of the Arts. Before turning to opera she began her career in theater at the Roundabout Theater in New York. There, starting as assistant director, she was mentored by Gene Feist. She considered Virgil Thomson to be her operatic mentor and the legendary lyricist and song writer, Sheldon Harnick to be her musical theatre mentor. Harnick played a pivotal role in Encompass’s annual fundraiser, the Musical Salute Gala, which gave lifetime achievement awards to some of Broadway’s most prominent actors and composers such as Chita Rivera, John Kander, Jerry Herman, Maury Yeston, Alan Menken, Estelle Parsons, and Marilyn Maye to name a few.
