Suzannah Levett Zody

Suzannah Levett Zody, Executive Director of the Brown County Playhouse, died Sunday, June 2, at Kindred Hospital in Indianapolis, following a four-month hospitalization for a rare complication of diabetes. She is survived by her husband, Ian Levett; her parents, Frank and Brenda Zody; and her sister and brother-in-law, Sallianne Zody and Marc Anderson, all of Brown County, as well as many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her grandparents, Emerson and Wilma Wheeler and Howard and Alice Zody, all of whom were from Brown County. Suzannah was born October 6, 1961, and graduated from Brown County High School in 1979. She attended Purdue University and the University of Illinois at its Chicago campus. Starting in high school, Suzannah was an accomplished dramatic and comedic actress, appearing in many productions at Brown County High School and with the Brown County community theater group led by the late Dale and Janice Cassiday. She continued performing at Purdue University and in Act 2, Inc. productions in Lafayette, and was an apprentice at the Barn Theater, and Equity theater in Augusta, MI, in 1982. Her last performance as an actress was in Love, Loss and What I Wore at the Brown County Playhouse in 2013. In 1981, Suzannah moved to Chicago where she had a successful arts marketing career as Audience Development Director for the Royal-George Theatre, Sales Director for the Goodman Theatre, and as a consultant for a variety of organizations including Northlight Theatre, Lyric Opera and Next Theatre. In 1990, she moved to London, England, where she was Sales and Marketing Administrator for BOCS, Europe’s largest ticketing agency, and then Sales Manager for Galathea Systems Limited. At Galathea, she launched market-leading ticketing/marketing software with such clients as Buckingham Palace/Windsor Castles’ Royal Collections, Westminster Abbey, Tate Gallery, Sydney Opera House, Drury Lane Theatre and the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland. She was a member of the European conference committee for the International Ticketing Association (INTIX) and was a member of the London organizing committee, and a speaker, for the organization’s 1997 international conference. Suzannah returned to Nashville in 2002, where she was a sales associate and then principal broker for Hills O’ Brown Realty. When Indiana University decided to end its association with the Brown County Playhouse, Suzannah returned to her first love, the theater, and was part of the group that formed a nonprofit organization to take ownership and control of the Playhouse. She was on the Playhouse’s first Board of Directors and then became its first Executive Director, a post she held until she became ill in early February. She also served on the Nashville Development Review Commission and the Arts and Entertainment Commission. Suzannah was cremated and there will be no services. A celebration of life will be held at the Brown County Playhouse at a date that will be announced. Memorial contributions may be made to the Brown County Playhouse, P.O. Box 2011, Nashville, IN 47448.