Robin Mary Rhodes
She was Miss Marple.
She was the senator’s wife.
She was the choreographer of a “A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream.”
Robin Mary Rhodes, to those who held Island Players season tickets, was the first lady of island theater.
And she was like a young bird, fluttering about, sharing her enthusiasm on Anna Maria Island.
Ms. Rhodes, 63, of Anna Maria, died June 19.
Her theatrical resume — just for her performances at the community theater in Anna Maria — spanned decades and a range of genres. She appeared on the Island Players stage in more than 30 productions beginning in 1998, including “Dearly Departed,” “Solid Gold Cadillac,” “Lady of the Camellias,” “Chapter Two,” “Moon Over Buffalo” and “Rumors.”
Ms. Rhodes also performed with the Gulfport Players in Gulfport and Theatre Works in Sarasota and was involved with many theater groups in Massachusetts, beginning in 1967 in a summer stock production of “The Sound of Music” in Hyannis, Massachusetts.
Island Players president Sylvia Marnie shared this remembrance with The Islander: I first met Robin in 2002, we had both been cast in “Rumors” by Neil Simon at the Island Players theater.
As a new actor, I could only watch despairingly at this consummate professional who seemed to effortlessly glide onto the stage, commanding your attention, at the same time charming you with her presence mixed with her blazing intensity and searing observations.
Rehearsals are great fun and hard work.
For Robin, hard work came first and the fun would come later.
Every play has six weeks of rehearsal — by the end of the second week, without fail, Robin would march onstage having memorized all her lines. She held the bar high for all other actors.
Having known her personally for many years, I can say she was quite the enigma.
Fiercely private and deeply religious and yet, onstage, she had an honesty and passion that was breathtaking.
She was sublime in her talent and cut from professional-grade cloth, unique to her.
We were very, very lucky to have her at the Island Players.
Ms. Rhodes was born Aug. 21, 1957, in Massachusetts. She grew up in Sudbury where she attended Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. She was a devout Christian.
She was wed several years to David McCarthy and had a daughter.
She had a lifetime of work in the theater, starting as a girl in a role in “The Sound of Music” in a local playhouse.
She came to Anna Maria to escape the harsh winters of New England.
A celebration of life is being planned in August in Anna Maria by her daughter, Maegen McCarthy. who welcomes people to contact her at maemccarthy2016@gmailcom to share stories and photos of her mother.
“She was my best friend and I miss her greatly,” she said.
Ms. Rhodes also is survived by a sister, Jan Carlson of Florida; nephews Kevin, Michael and Jack Manning of Massachusetts; niece Jennifer Moulton of North Carolina; and Buddy, “the friendliest little dog you could ever meet.”