Two Sisters, One Stage, Same Apartment: Talia Suskauer and Becca Suskauer Take a Walk on the Moon

For sisters Talia and Becca Suskauer, drama has always been the family business, even if it first unfolded in front of a jury.

The siblings, currently starring in the new musical adaptation of A Walk on the Moon at the Laura Pels Theatre, grew up in a household where their parents’ legal careers carried a distinctly performative edge. “My mom is a criminal defense attorney and my dad’s a judge,” Talia says. “There’s an innately theatrical sense to being in a courtroom.”

While their father encouraged them to explore any path, the pull toward the stage proved inevitable, fuelled by a Broadway-loving mother who frequently brought them into the city. “I remember Talia being like, ‘That’s my dream,'” Becca recalls. “She just knew it.”

Today, that dream has evolved into a rare family double act. Talia—a former Elphaba in Wicked and Lucille in the recent national tour of Parade—leads A Walk on the Moon as Pearl, a housewife who begins an affair with a handsome stranger. She is joined onstage by Becca who pulls double duty as Pearl’s friend Rhoda and also serves as Talia’s understudy.

The collaboration doesn’t end when the curtain falls; the sisters also recently moved in together. Now navigating life as both roommates and castmates, they are giving their parents front-row seats to what they jokingly call their own personal “Super Bowl.”

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

I want to ask one question right off the bat: who was cast in A Walk on the Moon first?
Talia Suskauer: I love that you brought this up. I have a friend who’s worked closely on the project for many years on the producing team, and he was always like, “This is a great part for you one day, if the stars ever align.” I was doing the Parade national tour last year and my friend and his bosses, who are the lead producers of the show, flew to Chicago to see me. From that, I got cast as Pearl.

We had a part open up and I said to Becca, “This would be great for you. You should go audition.” I had zero to do with it. In fact, it’s a boundary in our relationship to keep things separate. It was important for me and for Becca in trusting that if the stars aligned and she was meant to do this show, she’d get cast in it. I didn’t reach out to the team, nothing. Becca completely got this on her own merit because she’s phenomenal and great and talented.

Becca Suskauer: Thanks for saying that, T. I’ve always been very skeptical about the idea of us being in a show together. We’d never worked professionally together before, not since children’s theater. Originally, I thought that I was just going in for Rhoda, the role that I play, but they also asked if I’d be comfortable covering Pearl, and I didn’t know. They really wanted to make sure that Talia was also OK with us working together, because they didn’t know how we function. We had a conversation about it, and I think it prepared us for this summer. And then I was like, “Sure, I’ll learn her big song.” It kind fell into place at the right time.

Talia: I will say, right before Becca was cast in this, we moved in together, so we had to navigate living together and working together. What was really cool is that both of us were like “How do we prioritize our relationship first?” Which was an adult, mature thing to do.

Becca: Yeah, it was giving adult.

Your parents must be kvelling.
Talia: Oh, this is their Super Bowl. This is what my mom has dreamed about her entire life. Usually, she’d be flying to different parts of the country to see us perform at different times and now she gets to come to the city and see both of us together.

This would be more fun if you two interview each other, so if you’re ready…have at it.
Becca: Ok, so, T., I might be biased, but your Elphaba is singular. It’s been fun to watch you go back every blue moon and revisit the role. You were only 23 when you started playing her and you’ve lived a lot of life since then. What is something new you learned the last time you stepped into Wicked?

Talia: That’s a great question. The last time I stepped in was this February and I did four shows in a row. I always knew that it was hard, but when you build up the stamina, it doesn’t feel that way. There is a mental fortitude that it takes that I think I’ve developed that I didn’t have at 23. I think I led with that this time, at almost 30, and it was cool to take that emotional and mental approach to the character. It was different than me just throwing my full energy and body and voice at it when I was a child playing her.

OK, my turn. You graduated college in a very tough time.

Becca: Covid times.

Talia: Your entrance into this industry was hard, but you hopped right onto the Pretty Woman national tour. What is one thing that you learned from that experience that you wished more people would know about your generation?

Becca: I think sometimes people complain about our generation being greedy or wanting too many things or not being tough enough, but I think it’s a superpower to be soft and sensitive and want to make changes and advocate for others in the workplace, which is something learned from tour. That includes advocating for yourself. If I could go back, I would tell myself “You need to look out for yourself because not everyone will have your best interests at heart. Make sure you take care of yourself so that you can take care of other people, too.”

Becca: Talia, if you could pick a revival to star in during your 40s or 50s, what would it be? And please consider funny roles because you are a funny lady.

Talia: The Drowsy Chaperone.

Becca: Which you played when you were 15. Can you maybe elaborate on the roles you played in high school?

Talia: I played Madame Thenardier, I played the Drowsy Chaperone, Mother in Ragtime.

Becca: At 21 years old, she played Margaret in Light in the Piazza.

Talia: It was giving really, really motherly.

What was the moment in your life where you were like “This is what I’m going to do”?

Becca: I think I wanted to be just like you. I watched you go to came and I wanted to go to camp. I watched you go to the middle school of the arts, and I wanted to go to the middle school of the arts. I just loved that we had this thing we got to share. One memory I have specifically is that we were on a family trip staying in some old hotel, and the Shrek the Musical cast album came out and our parents kept trying to get us on the right sleep schedule, but all we just wanted to listen to Shrek the Musical.

Talia: I don’t remember this at all, so it’s amazing that this was formative for you.

Becca: I think it was less about wanting to be an actor and more about, I have to be around whatever this is because it’s amazing and weird.

And my sister loves it.