Cookie Diorio is a Philadelphia-based drag artist, classically trained vocalist, songwriter, and theatrical storyteller whose work spans opera, cabaret, gospel, and glam-infused activism. A Barrymore Award nominee and Associate Artist with the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, Cookie has performed at Joe’s Pub (Do You Want A Cookie?), the Kraine Theater (Fire In My Bones: A Gospel Jubilee), the Philly Fringe Festival, and the Barnes Foundation, where she staged a musical takeover blending gospel, drag, and civic ritual.Raised in historic Auburn, NY with gospel in her ears and civil rights in her blood, Cookie trained at Ithaca College under Angus Godwin, with additional mentorship from Carol McAmis (vocal pedagogy), Lawrence Doebler (choral arts), Dana Wilson (composition), and Patrick Hansen (opera coaching). She honed her stage presence in Boston’s nightclub scene—mastering the art of walking in 5 inch stilettos—and achieved her hair fantasy through vintage videos of Grace Bumbry. She has since built a career that fuses classical technique with theatrical spectacle. Cookie is a 15-year company member with Opera Philadelphia and premiered the role of “Oracle” in Andrea Clearfield’s *Beyond the Binary*. She is the founder of Art of the Heel (a giving project that blends drag, music, and community care), has given a TEDx talk at Rosetree on the power of voice and identity, and is the mother of the House of Diorio. Offstage, she is a dedicated music educator who teaches voice with a commitment to joy, rigor, and radical welcome.

Learn more at Cookiediorio.com