Susan Birkenhead is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lyricist.

Birkenhead made her Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 debut as one of a team of songwriters contributing to Working

Working (musical)

Working is a musical with a book by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, music by Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, and James Taylor, and lyrics by Schwartz, Carnelia, Grant, Taylor, and Susan Birkenhead....

(1978), for which she received her first Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

 nomination. Her second was earned for Jelly's Last Jam

Jelly's Last Jam

Jelly's Last Jam is a musical with a book by George C. Wolfe, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, and music by Jelly Roll Morton and Luther Henderson...

(1992), which won her the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics

The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics is an annual award presented by the Drama Desk, a committee of New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...

 and a Grammy Award

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 nomination. Additional Broadway credits include Triumph of Love

Triumph of Love

Triumph of Love is a musical with a book by James Magruder, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, and music by Jeffrey Stock.Resembling a chamber musical more than a traditional book musical, it is based on the 1732 Pierre de Marivaux commedia dell'arte play Le Triomphe de l'Amour and centers on Spartan...

(Drama Desk nomination) and additional lyrics for the Cole Porter

Cole Porter

Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...

 tunes in the 1998 revival of High Society

High Society (musical)

High Society is a musical with a book by Arthur Kopit and music and lyrics by Cole Porter.Based on the Philip Barry play The Philadelphia Story and the 1956 musical screen adaptation with Porter's songs, High Society, the plot centers on pretentious Long Island socialite Tracy Lord, who is planning...

.

Birkenhead's off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

 and regional theatre

Regional theatre in the United States

Regional theaters, or resident theaters, in the United States are professional or semi-professional, theater companies that produce their own seasons. The term regional theatre most often refers to professional theatres outside of New York City...

 credits include What About Luv?, a musical adaptation of the Murray Schisgal

Murray Schisgal

Murray Schisgal is an American playwright and screenwriter.Native New Yorker Schisgal won his first recognition for the 1963 off-Broadway double-bill The Typists and The Tiger, which won him the Drama Desk Award. His 1965 Broadway debut, Luv, earned him Tony Award nominations for Best Play and...

 play Luv

Luv (play)

Luv is a play by Murray Schisgal.A mix of absurdist humor and traditional Broadway comedy more in the Neil Simon vein, Luv concerns two college friends - misfit Harry and materialistic Milt - who are reunited when the latter stops the former from jumping off a bridge, the play's setting. Each...

, for which she won the Outer Critics Circle Award

Outer Critics Circle Award

The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...

; Pieces of Eight with Jule Styne

Jule Styne

Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...

 and Michael Stewart

Michael Stewart (playwright)

Michael Stewart was an American playwright and librettist.Born Michael Stuart Rubin in Manhattan, Stewart attended Queens College, and is a graduate of Yale School of Drama with a Master of Fine Arts from 1953. Michael Stewart (August 1, 1924 – September 20, 1987) was an American playwright...

; Fanny Hackabout Jones with Erica Jong

Erica Jong

Erica Jong is an American author and teacher best known for her fiction and poetry.-Career:A 1963 graduate of Barnard College, and with an M.A...

 and Lucy Simon

Lucy Simon

Lucy Simon is an American composer for the theatre and popular songs. She is known for the musical, The Secret Garden.-Biography:...

; The Night They Raided Minsky's with Charles Strouse

Charles Strouse

Charles Strouse is an American composer and lyricist.-Life and career:Strouse was born and raised in New York City, the son of Ira and Ethel Strouse...

 and Evan Hunter

Evan Hunter

Evan Hunter was an American author and screenwriter. Born Salvatore Albert Lombino, he legally adopted the name Evan Hunter in 1952...

, the new musical Minsky's

Minsky's

Minsky's is a musical by Bob Martin , Charles Strouse , and Susan Birkenhead , and is loosely based on the 1968 movie The Night They Raided Minsky's....

based on the same; and, in collaboration with Henry Krieger

Henry Krieger

Henry Krieger is an American composer.Krieger wrote the music for the Broadway shows Dreamgirls , The Tap Dance Kid , and Side Show , as well as other works of musical theatre.He was nominated for the Tony Awards for Best Score for both Dreamgirls and Side Show, won a Grammy...

, two potentially Broadway-bound projects based on hit films, The Flamingo Kid and Moonstruck (with a book by screenwriter

Screenwriter

Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

 John Patrick Shanley

John Patrick Shanley

John Patrick Shanley is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He also contributed articles on the performing arts to The New York Times among other publications.-Life and career:...

).

Birkenhead is one of several lyricists who contributed to Hats!, a musical inspired by the Red Hat Society

Red Hat Society

The Red Hat Society is a social organization originally founded in 1998 for women age 50 and beyond, but now open to women of all ages. As of August 2010, there are over 40,000 chapters in the United States and 29 other countries.-History:...

, which is enjoying an open-ended run at Harrah's New Orleans

Harrah's New Orleans

Harrah's New Orleans is a casino located in New Orleans, Louisiana near the foot of Canal Street a block away from the Mississippi River. It is a casino with approximately 2,100 slot machines, over 90 table games and a poker room. There are several places to eat ranging from buffet style to fine...

 and is scheduled for a limited engagement at the Royal George Theatre in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

starting in April 2007 http://www.hatsthemusical.com/.

External links

• Internet Broadway Database listing