Joanna Francis is an actress in the stage play, The Harder They Come.

Joanna's professional career began with the Company Dance Theatre in Jamaica, where she was a principal dancer. She then trained at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. Most recently Joanna appeared in the role of Elsa in The Harder They Come (2007-2008) at The Barbican Centre and Birmingham Hippodrome. The production later transferred to The Playhouse Theatre in the West End.
 
Other credits include Miss Higgins in Carmen Jones, (directed by Jude Kelly, at the Royal Festival Hall) where she understudied the leading role of Cindy Lou; the role of Elsa in the original production of The Harder They Come (Theatre Royal Stratford East); Starsong in the workshop production of Sleeping Beauty (The Venue); Ensemble in the Stratford East and West End runs of The Big Life in which she understudied and played the roles of Mary, Kathy and Zulieka (also BBC radio recording, in which she played the role of Sybil); Soul Girl and cover Mary in Jesus Christ Superstar (Scandinavian tour); Benjamin's Wife, Mrs. Potiphar and u/s Narrator in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Ohio, U.S.A.) and Lutiebelle in Purlie at The Bridewell Theatre in London, for which she was nominated Best Actress in a Musical, What's On Stage Awards, 2005.
 
Joanna Francis was featured on our The Harder They Come program which aired on August 30, 2009.
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