Praise for INGENUE YOU WHEN, Susan’s solo show at 54 Below in NYC
“The late, great Dick Gallagher was heard to observe that cabaret "is the art of being yourself on purpose." Not every person who steps up onto a stage in a small venue is actually ready to do that, and it's fine because that can be a place more intimate, more vulnerable than some are ready to be. So those people get all dressed up in a character - sometimes a character based on themselves, but a character, nonetheless. When Susan Derry made her Feinstein's/54 Below solo show debut last Wednesday night, there was no "version" of herself standing in the spotlight, for Susan Derry did exactly what the late Maestro Gallagher wished for every cabaret artist to do. Susan Derry was one hundred percent herself, and it showed in every charming moment of her personally informed act." -Stephen Mosher, BroadwayWorld
“With the rich fullness of her classical training and the inherent brightness of her natural sound, it is easy to see why Susan Derry has had so successful a career on the musical theater stage, but with Ingenue You When, the sunny soprano has taken an important step onto a new stage.” Stephen Mosher, BroadwayWorld
Ingenue You When was nominated for a Best Cabaret Debut Award by Broadway World, and has since been revived at GR 42 in NYC. A tour is in the works!
“…with Ingenue You When, the sunny soprano has taken an important step onto a new stage.”
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“So, another spin around the turntable from start to finish was in order. Then, on the third listening of Susan Derry’s I WISH IT SO, it hit me. And I hit myself. I hit myself right in the center of my forehead - I might just as well have said, "I could've had a V8." I WISH IT SO is not a Christmas album. This is a year-long musical journey. Maybe it's the journey Susan Derry took during the pandemic, maybe it's a journey from her past, maybe it's a journey she plans for the future, but this thirteen-song song cycle is telling a story that begins with the wishes and hopes we all have in our hearts on January first, and it ends on New Year's Eve, and though this writer was (more than) a little slow on the up-take, eventually, I got there. Lucky, lucky me.”
-Stephen Mosher, BroadwayWorld
“Susan Derry’s (dare I say it) cockeyed optimism shined through to create beauty and inspiration from the shadows of the pandemic. Further proof (as if any more were needed) that Derry is a local treasure who continuously gifts the theater community with her time, heart, and talent.” - DC Metro Theater Arts
Praise for I WISH IT SO, Susan’s Debut Album
As FRANCESCA in THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY at Keegan Theatre
“Bridges” can be ravishing, and the ace in this staging is Susan Derry, whose operatic soprano is exactly right for Francesca, the Italian war bride pining away in 1965 Iowa after 20 years of marriage. Derry is wonderful with Francesca’s anxieties when her family leaves for a state fair and a handsome National Geographic photographer shows up in her driveway. Derry is naturally funny — this ultra-earnest romance needs that — and she sounds terrific as the score soars into Italian-inflected arias.” - The Washington Post
…”I must say she had me by the time she got to songs like "Almost Real" and "What Do You Call a Man Like That." Acting wise, this might be the role of Derry's career.” - Broadway World
“Susan Derry has created a magical and complex character in her portrayal of Francesca… Derry has some challenges to face but she faces them squarely and has carefully made choices that add up. …What delighted me even more was to discover this singing-actress could deliver a most nuanced and full physical characterization. Students of musical-theatre of any brand would do well to study Derry’s work in detail. Let’s take her feet. In every scene she uses her slender appendages to reveal something new about her character. .. She reveals a woman unabashedly open to her own physical awakening and intimate as any portrait by Mary Cassatt….Derry and indeed all the actors mine the humor in Marsha Norman’s script…Her comedic timing is impeccable.” - DC Theatre Scene
“Derry’s performance as the emotionally starved housewife struggling with the choice between embracing her own passion and happiness or fulfilling her duties as a wife and mother was breathtaking. Derry commands the stage with her rich voice and a powerful presence that emanates from her petite frame.” - DC Metro Theater Arts
“the role of Derry’s career.”
“Susan Derry has a powerhouse voice.”
-DC Metro Theater Arts
As BETTY SHAEFFER in SUNSET BOULEVARD at Signature Theatre
"Susan Derry’s lovely soprano and sparkling innocence capture just the right notes of Betty, the writer who falls for Joe." - Variety
“As Betty Schaefer, the real object of Joe’s affections, Susan Derry does a nice job with a relatively small and ungracious role. Her transformation from script editor ingénue to real writer to tragic, would-be lover and wife is eminently believable. It’s the whole story of Hollywood, really, where promises and dreams eventually turn to ashes for most who pursue them.” - DC Theatre Scene
“Susan Derry exudes beauty, poise and a fabulous singing voice. Ms. Derry, like all the principles in this play, is at the top of her game. Whenever a performer can make you forget you’re watching a play and instead allow you to enter into her world on stage you know you’re in the presence of someone, something very special.” - ShowBiz Radio
“As Betty Schaefer, Susan Derry’s transformation from script editor ingénue to real writer to tragic, would-be lover and wife is eminently believable.” - Berkshire Onstage
BOLD NEW WORKS at Creative Cauldron
“Derry shines and crumbles nicely as the spooked Miss Giddens…” - Washington Post
"Susan Derry has a powerhouse voice,...she shows incredible vocal range." -DC Metro Theater Arts
“Derry is there— in that moment just before mania, when calm and composure take every effort and thinly veil a bubbling neurosis. She’s the friend you know not to ask a favor of or stranger on the bus you know not to sit next to. And, she’s going to snap. It’s a brilliant place to find as an actor, and Derry does it with aplomb.” - DC Theatre Scene
“There's a harshness to Susan Derry's (Broadway's Wonderful Town) Maggie that would be easy to overplay, making the character unlikeable. By dropping her guard at the most strategic times, Ms. Derry crafts a more complex character than the book calls for.” - Broadway World
As ELIZA in MY FAIR LADY at New Harmony Theatre
“Susan Derry became a vital, compelling figure as the story progressed, especially when she could express herself in song. Her joy is inextinguishable in "I Could Have Danced All Night," her fury palpable in "Just You Wait" and her wistful resolve resonates through "Without You.” - Evansville Courier & Press
As DESDEMONA in OTHELLO at New Harmony Theatre
“In contrast, the play’s most truly moving scenes played out in the quiet exchanges between Susan Derry, as the wrongly accused Desdemona, and Joy Franz as Emilia, Desdemona’s servant and Iago’s wife. Derry’s transition from loving, loyal, confident wife, whose smile seemed to warm the room, to stricken, confused, victim was painful to witness.” - Evansville Courier & Press
As BETTY HAYNES in WHITE CHRISTMAS at Carousel Dinner Theatre
“Susan Derry as Betty Haynes (originally played by Rosemary Clooney) and Ellen Zolezzi as Judy Haynes (created by Vera-Ellen) take little time to prove they’re definitely up to the demanding task of winning the audience over and making the roles their own.” - T-R Entertainment Editor
"..a pair of attractive sisters, serious Betty (Susan Derry) and effervescent Judy (Ellen Zolezzi)...The cast is terrific down the line, with lots of visible chemistry.” - Repository Entertainment Editor
“…and a voice to make you believe in magic.”
— Ithaca Times
As FIONA in BRIGADOON at Merry-Go-Round Theatre
“Susan Derry's Fiona is a gem - winsome acting and a voice to make you believe in magic.” - Ithaca Times
“MGR fields a wonderful Fiona in Susan Derry, who delivers a powerhouse voice.” - syracuse.com
“The plotting in Lerner's book sometimes puts excellent leading lady Susan Derry as Fiona at a disadvantage, often heard only in duets or eloquently reprising songs from other players. She makes the most of such moments, however, demonstrating the allure that pulls Tommy to Brigadoon's otherworld.” - Syracuse New Times
As THE FALSE ANGÈLE in THE TSAR HAS HIS PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN
“The Tsar was another thing entirely, with its gang of co-conspirators, very human Tsar, and especially the performance of Susan Derry as the False Angèle. Derry..already seems to be an accomplished comedienne. She twirled about the stage with a theatricality not expected in the conservatory.” - New York Daily News
“The leading role taken by ...Susan Derry...was very well handled indeed.” - Shirley Fleming, New York Post
“..three expert performances...Susan Derry was a musically agile False Angèle…“ - The New York Times
“Derry brings a reality, naturalness, and a dramatic intensity to every scene she enters.”
— Delco Sun Times
As MARIA in WEST SIDE STORY at Media Theatre
“The main thing the Media Theatre and its audience have going for it is Susan Derry as Maria. Derry is perfectly cast. She exudes the open-minded freshness and individuality of Maria ...Adding to the gifts she brings to the Media stage, Derry brings a reality, naturalness, and a dramatic intensity to every scene she enters. It is she and her performance that make you respond to the tough realities West Side Story is exposing. It is she who wins your heart so that you want the pure love she has with Tony to prevail...Of all the people I’ve seen on the Media stage, Derry is the one I expect to see on Broadway, carting home a Tony award, in years to come. “- Delco Daily Times