Talia Suskauer

Talia Suskauer is an American musical theatre actress born on August 2, 1996, in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. She is recognized for her portrayal of Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked and has appeared on Broadway from 2003 to 2025 in productions including Be More Chill, Wicked, and Parade.

Suskauer was raised in a household where both parents practiced law; her mother Michelle Suskauer became a criminal defense attorney and later president of the Florida Bar Association, while her father Scott Suskauer became a judge on Florida's 15th Judicial Circuit. She began performing in local roles at her community temple by age four, and her parents regularly brought her to Broadway shows in New York and played cast albums at home. She attended Bak Middle School of the Arts and subsequently Dreyfoos School of the Arts, where she majored in theatre, and also performed locally at StarStruck Theatre in Stuart, Florida. She went on to earn a musical theatre BFA from Penn State University, graduating in 2018. During her freshman year at Penn State, she was named a 2015 YoungArts winner in Theatre Arts.

Following graduation, Suskauer made her off-Broadway debut at the Signature Theatre in New York City in Be More Chill, serving as female standby and assistant dance captain. The production transferred to the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway in February 2019, and she remained with it through its closing in August 2019. Shortly after, in August 2019, she auditioned for the role of Elphaba in Wicked, receiving a final callback just one week after her first audition. She joined the national tour in Las Vegas on September 24, 2019, replacing Mariand Torres. The tour was suspended on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Suskauer reopened it in Dallas at the Music Hall at Fair Park on August 3, 2021, in the first Broadway touring production to perform since the pandemic shutdown. She played her final tour performance on March 20, 2022, and was replaced by Lissa deGuzman.

Suskauer then transferred to the Broadway company of Wicked, replacing Lindsay Pearce as Elphaba beginning May 24, 2022. She played her final performance in that run on March 5, 2023, and was succeeded by her standby, Alyssa Fox. She returned to the production for a single day on March 27, 2024, providing emergency cover, and later rejoined as a temporary standby beginning January 27, 2026, standing by for Lencia Kebede. A TikTok posted by her vocal coach Craig Wich capturing his reaction to her Broadway casting went viral. Critics responded positively to her work in the role; KDHX's Tina Farmer noted her beautiful diction and rich voice, and BroadwayWorld's Daniel Collins highlighted her vocal power in numbers such as "Defying Gravity" and "No Good Deed."

From January 21 to September 7, 2025, Suskauer played Lucille Frank in the national tour of Parade, the Tony Award-winning revival of the 1998 musical. Regionally, she has performed at the New London Barn Playhouse in New London, New Hampshire, earning multiple New Hampshire Theatre Award nominations for roles including Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical, Rosa Bud in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Lily Craven in The Secret Garden, and Jo March in Little Women. At Penn State Centre Stage, she performed as Ms. Asp in Love In Hate Nation and Daphna in Bad Jews. Suskauer is represented by the Harden Curtis Kirsten Riley talent agency and Moxie Artists management.