
Emily
ERICKSON
Photo by Kelly Krauter
A BRIEF HISTORY
Emily (Emi) Erickson is an an actor, music director, composer, and multi-instrumentalist local to the Washington, DC and New York City markets. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Glass Canon Theatre Company in Washington, DC and on the theatre studies faculty of NYU Tisch in the Department of Drama. Emily holds a BFA in Drama from New York University where she studied in the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, Experimental Theatre Wing, and the Classical Studio. She holds an MFA in Classical Acting from The Academy at Shakespeare Theatre Company and George Washington University.
Recent acting credits include Apropos of Nothing (Keegan Theatre), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Arts Center of Coastal Caroline), People, Places & Things (Studio Theatre), Noises Off (Keegan Theatre - Helen Hayes Award for Best Ensemble), Much Ado About Nothing (Chesapeake Shakespeare), Man Covets Bird  (Spooky Action), Richard II  (Her Majesty & Sons), Muffed (Prologue Theatre), and The Honey Trap (Solas Nua - Helen Hayes Nomination for Best Ensemble.) Emily's strengths and passions lie in Shakespeare and classical work, musical theater, and new play development. (In other words: Throw her some verse, a brand-new character to create, or some strong mix/belt material and she's a happy camper.) Emily serves as the resident music director for Devil's Isle Shakespeare Co. and is a company member with Chesapeake Shakespeare Company.
​
As an educator, Emi currently works at NYU as an adjunct professor. She previously worked under Daniel Spector as his assistant in the Classical Studio. She has also worked as an educator at the National Theater Institute, Atlantic Acting School, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Round House Theatre, Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, and Educational Theatre Company. She also runs a private voice and audition coaching business.
​
As a music director and composer, Emily has worked in many U.S. cities including New York, Houston, Detroit, Provincetown, DC, and Los Angeles. She has composed original music for dozens of new plays and Shakespeare productions alike and has written vocal arrangements for composers the likes of Alexander Sage Oyen, Mark Hollmann, and Aviva Jaye. Emi is currently working on two new full-length musicals Pentangle and The Sandfairy with writing partners Delaney Amatrudo and Jenna Hoffmann, respectively.

Headshot by DJ Corey Photography

Emily's musical adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tempest (co-written with collaborator Séamus Miller) had its world premiere in September 2024 in Bermuda with Devil's Isle Shakespeare Co. The show returned in September 2025 for a month-long run. Learn more here.

NEWS
April 2025
Emily is performing in MUFFED with Prologue Theatre April 24th-May 18th. She will also be playing Rebecca in Apropos of Nothing at Keegan Theatre July 12th-August 10th. Tickets available HERE.
February 2025
Emily is portraying Abraham and Nurse in Chesapeake Shakespeare Company's student matinee production of Romeo and Juliet, running March 10th-May 9th. She is also understudying the role of One in Debbie Tucker Green's hang at 1st Stage, directed by Deidra LaWan Starnes.
October 2024
Emily will perform as Rosemary Bassanio in a staged reading of Eric Hissom's Rude Mechanics with Avant Bard October 18th and 20th, directed by Kathleen Akerley. She will also perform as Mary Shelley in a reading of the new musical So Late Into the Night with Rorschach Theatre on October 27th.
August 2024
Emily Erickson and Séamus Miller's musical adaptation of The Tempest will have its world premiere production with Devil's Isle Shakespeare Co. in Bermuda September 27th-October 6th. Emily will serve as the production's music director and play the role of Ariel.
July 2024
Emily will be serving as a swing on Keegan Theatre's production of Noises Off, covering Brooke, Poppy, and Belinda. She has a planned performance as Brooke September 8th. She also went on for Poppy in an invited dress rehearsal July 30th. The show runs August 1st-September 8th. Tickets available here.
April 2024
Emily is playing Betty/Ensemble and understudying Carole King and Genie King in Arts Center of Coastal Carolina's production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. The production runs April 26th-May 26th. Tickets available here.
Photo by Alec Wild
In rehearsal for Julius Caesar
with Director Craig Wallace
February 2024
Emily is playing the role of Cassandra in Chesapeake Shakespeare Company's production of The Oresteia (Ellen McLaughlin translation, Directed by Lise Bruneau.) The show runs February 16th-March 10th in Baltimore, MD. Emily is also understudying the role of Aunt Maggie in Through the Sunken Lands at the Kennedy Center's Family Theater. The production runs March 2nd-17th.

In rehearsal for Much Ado About Nothing / Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

DJ Corey Photography

In rehearsal for Chicago / Photo by Sub/Urban Photography

Michael Haller Photography

Man Covets Bird / Spooky Action Theater

In rehearsal for Julius Caesar / The Academy at STC

Macbeth's Witches / Will on the Hill - Shakespeare Theatre Company

The Oresteia / Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

Science! The Musical / Columbia Center for Science and Society

In Rehearsal for The Tempest / Devil's Isle Shakespeare Co.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical / Arts Center of Coastal Carolina

Photo by Bianca Rogoff

Vinegar Tom / Powerhouse Apprentice Company

DJ Corey Photography

The Tempest / Devil's Isle Shakespeare Co.

24: A Work in Progress / Experimental Theatre Wing

Contact High / Theater 511 @ Ars Nova

Vinegar Tom / Powerhouse Apprentice Company

Fitting In / Arts on the Horizon

Julius Caesar / The Academy at STC