Susana Zabaleta

Susana Zabaleta, a Mexican singer and actress, built a career spanning recordings, cinema, television, stage productions, and opera. Frequently cast as a sensual vamp, the versatile performer has issued an eclectic body of music that reflects the breadth of her work overall, with a preference for covers of popular songs and show tunes. Born Susana Zabaleta Ramos on September 30, 1964, in Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico, she trained at Escuela Superior de Musica de Monterrey in Mexico and pursued opera studies in Florence, Italy. Early professional credits came through opera roles in La Traviata, Elixir de Amor, and Dido y Aeneas. By the mid-1980s she had moved into musical theater, appearing in Barnum (1986), El Violinista en el Tejado (1986), Magnolias de Acero (1988), Mi Vida Es Mi Vida (1988), Don Quijote de la Mancha (1988), Sorpresas (1989), and Qué Plantón (1989).

A star-making part as Jellylorum in the Spanish-language Mexico City staging of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats arrived in 1991. That year also included appearances in the telenovelas Al Filo de la Muerte, Milagro y Magia, and Cadenas de Amargura. Her debut solo album, ¿...O Fue un Sueño?, was recorded in Madrid in 1992 with producer Luis Carlos Esteban and later issued by BMG in 1994; the set yielded singles “Ella y El,” “Traéte Tu Almohada,” and “Algo Grande,” each supported by a music video. In 1995 she sang the theme “Colores en el Viento” for the Spanish-language soundtrack of Disney’s Pocahontas.

She starred in the 1996 horror film Sobrenatural—released in English as All of Them Witches—directed by her husband Daniel Gruener, and appeared in the telenovela La Sombra del Otro. Her second album, Desde el Baño, followed in 1997, the same year she acted in Elisa Antes del Fin del Mundo. A lead role in the 1998 telenovela Una Luz en el Camino returned her to television. In 1999 she appeared in Sexo, Pudor y Lágrimas—issued in English as Sex, Shame & Tears—winning an Ariel Award for Best Actress; the comedy-drama ultimately collected six Ariel Awards and earned seven additional nominations. She performed in the musical El Hombre de la Mancha and the telenovela Mi Destino Eres Tú in 2000.

Zabaleta headlined the 2001 romantic comedy Vivir Mata. Two albums—El Pasado Nos Vuelve a Pasar and Navidad—appeared in 2002, alongside her starring turn in the Spanish-language adaptation Los Monólogos de la Vagina. She voiced Marina in the Spanish version of Disney’s Sinbad in 2003. The album Quiero Sentir Bonito arrived in 2004 and was followed by Para Darle Cuerda al Mundo in 2005. In 2006 she released the double-CD/DVD live set De la A a la Z with legendary Mexican composer/pianist Armando Manzanero. The 2007 collection Te Busqué featured further interpretations of popular songs, while she starred in the Televisa series Sexo y Otros Secretos, modeled after the American programs Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives.