Joanna started life as a very small cellist, picking up the instrument at the age of 5 and going on to gain grade 8 distinction aged 16 and study at the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music. However, a love of acting and singing took over and she spent most of her time at Cambridge University performing on stage at the ADC Theatre and Cambridge Arts Theatre. After gaining her BA in Modern Languages, she therefore went on to Central School of Speech and Drama to study acting and singing.

Since graduating, she has worked regularly on stage, working for directors that include Rachel O'Riordan, Sir Peter Hall and John Doyle. 

Highlights of her career include Manchester Library Theatre's bold production of 'Grimm Tales', directed by Rachel O'Riordan ('a perfect marriage of music, movement, acting, storytelling and visual imagery in a slick and superbly-performed piece of theatre' British Theatre Guide) and the UK tour of John Doyle's acclaimed actor-musician production of 'Sweeney Todd' (for which he won a Tony Award), in which she played Johanna. 

2009 was a busy year, as Jo played Sibyl Vane in Ruby in the Dust's production of Dorian Gray at the Leicester Square Theatre and then Celeste in Primavera's production of Saturday Night at the Jermyn Street.  Both were sell-out productions, and Saturday Night transferred to the West End and Theatre Royal Windsor.  In the summer she covered the roles of Mrs Crocker Harris and Mrs Gilbert in Sir Peter Hall's touring production of 'The Browning Version' to broaden her experience, and from December 2009 to January 2010, she performed in Manchester Library Theatre's highly physical production of Carol Ann Duffy's 'Grimm Tales', directed by Rachel O'Riordan, with original music by Conor Mitchell. 

Much of 2010 and 2011 will be taken up by the UK no 1 tour of Chess, directed by Craig Revel Horwood, with musical direction by Sarah Travis - see the news page for more details!

Jo has sung classic jazz at balls, parties and bars under the name 'Sooner or Later', with pianist Will Galton, and hopes eventually to find regular work as a session singer. With her ability to sightsing and hold difficult harmonies, she is very easy to work with. She has also worked as a session cellist.

Jo is able to perform in several different accents or sing in different vocal styles, from operatic (she is a trained classical soprano) to belt, via musical theatre mix and character voices. Her vocal range goes from F below middle C to  'Queen of the Night' top F above the stave.  She is always keen to learn new instruments, and has recently been learning the flute.

At five foot 2 with a youthful appearance, she is most often cast as children or young women, from Tiny Tim (aged 7!!) to Wendy (11) and romantic leads Johanna and Sibyl Vane (16).  The part of Beth in Merrily provided an extra challenge, as it required her to play both hopeful teenager and angry divorced mother (28).

For more information, please contact her agent Phil Belfield at Belfield and Ward.

Photo taken by Chris Baker.