Nathaniel Merrill

Nathaniel Merrill (February 8, 1927 – September 9, 2008) was a celebrated American stage director and opera director. He was the resident stage director at the Metropolitan Opera from 1956-1985. During his 28 seasons at the Met he staged a total of 14 new productions in addition to directing several revivals. He also served as the Artistic Director of Central City Opera from 1959-1966. In 1981 he and his wife, conductor Louise Sherman, founded Opera Colorado. Merrill served as the company's artistic director and stage director and his wife worked as the company's musical director. Upon his wife's death from cancer in 1998, Merrill retired and thereafter lived in Denver until his death of complications related to Alzheimer's disease a decade later.

Born in Newton, Massachusetts, Merrill earned degrees from Dartmouth College, the New England Conservatory of Music, and Boston University. After working with the Hamburg State Opera, the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, the Glyndebourne Festival, and the Salzburg Festival, he joined the staff at the Metropolitan Opera in 1956 where his first job was to create a revised staging of Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1952 production of Giacomo Puccini's La bohème. His first major critical successes at the Met came during the 1960–1961 season when he directed the new staging of L'elisir d'amore and staged a brand new production of Puccini's Turandot that was designed by Cecil Beaton. He went on to stage several Met premieres including, Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten (1966), Berlioz's Les Troyens (1973) and Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (1985).

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