Susan Derry
Emily
An accomplished and versatile actor and singer noted for her “soaring soprano” and “striking theatricality” (The New York Times), Susan Derry is at home in a wide range of roles. She made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award–winning revival of Wonderful Town and performed the role of Christine in The Phantom of the Opera in Hamburg, Germany, with the Neue Flora Theater. She garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal of Francesca Johnson in The Bridges of Madison County at Keegan Theatre in Washington, DC; The Washington Post proclaimed, “the ace this staging is Susan Derry,” and BroadwayWorld called it the role of her career. .
Susan sang Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady with the Utah Symphony Orchestra, opposite the late Peter Scolari as Professor Henry Higgins. She also made her Off-Off Broadway debut in The Shrill Collective’s world premiere of Megan Bussiere’s A Period Piece, portraying Sam. In 2026, Susan records songs by the late Gerald Ginsburg with PS Classics and steps into a new musical work created for her based on the life and poetry of Emily Dickinson.
Susan was the centerpiece of the Bold New Works series, an initiative to create world-premiere musicals in the DMV; her performance in the first piece, a new version of The Turn of the Screw, was hailed as “brilliant,” and she revived the role in the fall of 2025 to similar acclaim, receiving her first Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical. She earned accolades as Mary Shelley in Monsters of the Villa Diodati; as a daughter grappling with her mother’s decline from Alzheimer’s in Kaleidoscope; and as a hard-edged single mother in Witch—all testament to her versatility.
As a cabaret performer, Susan creates nights that are intimate and vulnerable, a little mischievous, and full of warmth, including Ingenue You When (a BroadwayWorld Best Debut Show nominee at 54 Below) and I Wish It So, which became her debut album. She is the recipient of the BroadwayWorld Award for Best Cabaret/Concert/Solo Performance; was honored as a 2025 Cabaret Fellow at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center; and is currently the Cabaret Artist-in-Residence at Creative Cauldron Stage. In concert, Susan has headlined as a guest soloist with orchestras across the country
Susan earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University and a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Beyond the stage, she is committed to holding the door open for the next generation of artists and is in her 11th year as an Adjunct Professor of Voice at American University in Washington, DC.
Learn more at www.susanderry.com and follow Susan on Instagram: @susan_derry.
