ann Hodges

Ann Hodges is a Winnipeg-based director and librettist working across Canada, in both opera and theatre.

Ann recently made her international debut directing a production of Donizetti’s L'elisir d'amore with the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra at Weiwuying, the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Taiwan). Other recent engagements include dramaturgy and direction for several new Canadian Musicals, including The Quest (Foster/MacMillan) and In Real Life (Green/Wong), and a return to the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre for Kat Sandler’s Yaga. In 2024, Ann will direct Songs from the Uproar (Mazzoli/Vavrek) with City Opera Vancouver, In Real Life for Musical Stage Company, and Donizetti’s Elixir of Love for Manitoba Opera.

Her productions are familiar and well-loved by Vancouver audiences, where she served as Assistant Director in Residence at Vancouver Opera for 3 seasons, assisting on 11 operas. During that time, she was also commissioned to write and direct new adaptations of operas for young audiences including Cenerentola, The Barber of Barkerville, and Hansel and Gretel, all of which have been since produced across Canada. She wrote the libretto for (and directed) Vancouver Opera’s acclaimed production of Naomi’s Road, which has had over 400 performances throughout Canada and the U.S. 

Selected opera directing credits include: Werther, La Fille du Regiment, Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, L’Elisir d’Amore, (Manitoba Opera), Idomeneo (Pacific Opera Victoria), Ariodante (Calgary Opera); Tosca (Opera on the Avalon), Turandot, The Magic Flute (Opera Lyra); as well as works for Edmonton Opera, Calgary Opera, and Vancouver Opera. 

A skilled librettist and dramaturge, Ann has also written new English dialogue for many operas including Die Fledermaus, La Fille du Regiment, Der Freischütz, and The Abduction from the Seraglio. She has taught at various young artist programs including Opera de Montreal's Atelier Lyrique, Calgary Opera, University of British Columbia, the Contemporary Opera Lab, Victoria’s Summer Vocal Academy, and the National Theatre School of Canada. Ann is on faculty at Sheridan College, where she teaches Directing for Musical Theatre, and is on the core faculty of Digital Emerging Artists Program for Manitoba Opera (DEAP).

Musical theatre credits include: Blackout (Musical Stage Company/Canadian Stage); Once (Citadel Theatre); Grey Gardens (Musical Stage Company); Mamma Mia!, Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid (Rainbow Stage); Stories from the Red Dirt Road (Charlottetown Festival); The Little Mermaid (Drayton); Dear Johnny Deere, Urinetown, Beauty and the Beast (Persephone); Dogfight, Kiss Me Kate, In Real Life (Sheridan). 

Theatre credits include: August Osage County, Other People’s Money, Top Girls, Jitters, Black Coffee (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); The Secret Mask (Great Canadian Theatre Company); The Birds and the Bees, The Lonely Diner (Blyth Festival); The Birds and the Bees, Butcher, The December Man, Marion Bridge, The Rez Sisters (Prairie Theatre Exchange). 

October 2024

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