Susan
Elizabeth Futral (born
September 27, 1963 in Johnston County, North Carolina)] is an American coloratura soprano who
has won acclaim (as both singer and actress) throughout the United States as
well as in Europe, South America, and Japan. Born in Johnston County, North
Carolina, Futral grew up in Covington, Louisiana. She
earned a bachelor's degree in music performance from Samford University. After
studying with Virginia Zeani at Indiana University, she
spent two years as an apprentice with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. In
1991, she was a winner of the New York Metropolitan Opera National Council. The
soprano first garnered acclaim in the title role of the 1994 New York City Opera production
of Delibes' Lakmé. Edward Rothstein wrote in The New York Times: Ms
Futral's performance was crucial to the success of the evening.... Ms Futral
was refined and accurate, hitting her high notes without strain or artifice,
giving her vocal acrobatics warmth without ever succumbing to egoism. She was
not out to prove anything; the song ['The Bell Song'] was not laden with
excessive emotion or elaborate musical gestures: it had the virtues of her
performance throughout the evening, offering simplicity, grace and directness. In 1995 Futral won 2nd prize in Plácido Domingo's Operalia
International Opera Competition. In 1996 she was invited to
the Rossini Opera Festival to
sing the title role in the first production of Rossini's Matilde di Shabran since
1821. Later that year, she sang the role of Catherine in Meyerbeer's L'étoile du nord at
the Wexford Festival. In
September 1998, she created the role of Stella in the world premiere of André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire for
the San Francisco Opera. In February
2001, she debuted with the Los Angeles Opera as Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare. Other roles she has sung for the Los
Angeles Opera include Sophie in Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier and Violetta Valéry in Verdi's La traviata. On January 8, 1999, Futral made her debut
with the Metropolitan Opera in
the title role of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.
In 2003, she sang the role of Princess Eudoxie in the Met's first performances
since 1936 of Halévy's La Juive. She returned to the Met in December 2006 to star
opposite Plácido Domingo and Paul Groves in the
world premiere of Tan Dun's The First
Emperor (which was televised and later published on DVD),
later appearing in I puritani. In 2009 she portrayed Laura Jesson
in the world premiere of Houston Grand Opera's
production of André Previn's Brief Encounter with Nathan Gunn as Alec Harvey. In June 2014 she created the
role of Alice B. Toklas in
the world premiere of the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis'
production of Twenty-Seven, with Stephanie Blythe as Gertrude Stein. In addition to her stage roles, Futral also
starred as Elvira in the 2010 film Juan, an English-language
adaptation of Mozart's Don Giovanni in a contemporary setting by director
Kasper Holten, playing opposite English baritone Christopher Maltman as Juan.