Soara-Joye Ross

Soara-Joye Ross, previously known as Joy Ross, Joye Ross, Joy E. T. Ross, and also known as Soara-Joyce Ross (because of her name being misspelled) is an American actress and singer.

Career
Ross' Broadway acting credits include Les Misérables the Revival and Dance of the Vampires, where she made her Broadway debut.

Ross starred in the Off-Broadway productions of Single Black Female at the Playwrights Horizons theater and then The Duke on 42nd Street theater. She performed in Dessa Rose at the Lincoln Center, where she was the second cover for La Chanze when she wasn't playing the role of Annabel. Ross also did Jerry Springer: The Opera at Carnegie Hall, and was in "The Tin Pan Alley Rag" at the Laura Pels Theatre with The Roundabout Theatre Company as a cover for the roles of Treemonisha and Monisha, where she performed the role Monisha.

Ross has performed overseas as a soloist in the popular European show Palazzo Colombino, done a tour of Ain't Misbehavin' playing the role of "Charlayne" and Smokey Joe's Café, where she was a swing for the roles "B.J.", "Patti" and "Brenda", and a U.S. tour of Smokey Joe's Cafe with Gladys Knight. Ms. Ross played the role of "Mama Lila" in the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival where she worked with Donna McKechnie and won the "Best of Fest" Outstanding Individual Performance Award in the show written by Allan Harris entitled Cross That River.

Regionally she has been in Aida (Aida) at The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, where she was nominated By the Colorado Guild: Outstanding Performance by and Actress in a musical, Tick Tick Boom (Susan) at the Alliance Theater, From the Mississippi Delta, Ragtime (Sarah) at Gateway Playhouse and Weston Playhouse Theatre Company, Ain't Misbehavin' (Armelia) at The Huntington Theatre Company and Once On This Island (Asaka/Andrea) at Sacramento Music Circus and The Bay Street Theatre/Mill Mountain Theater.

Ross has done numerous readings and workshops and also appeared in the feature film Garden State as the Handi-World Cashier.

In 2006, Ross started a support group called "OFF-STAGE" for actors, singers and other performances to help them deal with the entertainment business.

In 2018, Soara-Joye Ross was featured in the cast of CARMEN JONES at the Classic Stage in New York. The New York Times reviewer, Ben Brantley, praised her performance as Frankie, who sings, “Beat Out Dat Rhythm.” Brantley wrote: "The soloist here is the marvelous Soara-Joye Ross as Frankie, and for the duration of the song, she is the life force incarnate, exultant and undeniable. There may be tragedy just around the corner, but for the immediate now, human existence seems like a blessed gift. Frankie concludes the song proclaiming there “ain’t but one big heart for the whole world,” and for those few radiant minutes, you actually believe her.

Personal background
Ross was born in Queens, New York. She was adopted by Rita T. Ross (now Rita Soares) and Joseph Ross at a very young age. In 2005 Ross reunited with her birth mother Lavonne Patterson. Upon finding her mother, she reunited with her paternal grandmother, maternal grandfather and years later her birth father Orick Sweetwine.

Ross attended Nassau Community College majoring in Vocal Performance. However, after doing musical theater work at Nassau, Ross transferred for her second year of college to The American Musical and Dramatic Academy with a scholarship. After completing the Academy program, Ross began working professionally in theater. However, since Ross wasn't getting the roles she wanted, she attended J. Beckson Studio in New York to continue learning the Meisner Technique for acting. At this point, her acting career began to flourish.

In September 2007, Ross was in rehearsals for a show in New York and after weeks of not feeling well was hospitalized the day before opening night where she was diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic. In 2010 she became a member of the not-for-profit organization ACT1 Diabetes. Since then she's been extremely active in the organization as Co-Facilitator for the Young Women with Diabetes Support Group and Donations Coordinator for the Supply Exchange Program.

Ross now resides in Brooklyn, New York with her Pomeranian, Lyric. She is working with other artists on a new musical written by Jay Kuo. Ross is also working on a solo piece about her own life.

Ross is a member of the Actors' Equity Association and the Screen Actor's Guild.

Broadway

 * Les Misérables (Revival)		Chorus Specialty Roles	Directed by	John Caird
 * Dance of the Vampires Featured Ensemble Directed by John Rando

Off-Broadway

 * Trav'lin* NYMF    Ros     Directed by Paul Stancato
 * Cross That River* NYMF   Mama Lila     Directed by           Andrew Wilk, TBG Theater
 * The Tin Pan Alley Rag        u/s Tremonisha/Monisha      	  The Laura Pels Theatre w/ The Roundabout Theater Co.  Directed by                  Stafford Arima
 * Single Black Female        SBF #2 -Lead			The Duke/Playwrights Horizons Directed by Colman Domingo
 * Dessa Rose        Annabel/Dessa Rose u/s	    Directed by             Graciela Daniele    Original Cast Recording				  	(performed)		        Lincoln Center
 * Langston In Harlem * Namt Festival        Ex-Harlemite	                                                               Dodgers Stages

National and European tours

 * Smokey Joe’s Café with Gladys Knight      BJ/Patti/Brenda (Swing)Directed by		Joey McNeally
 * Ain’t Misbehavin’		       Joy (Charlayne)	Directed by	 	Jim Weaver

Workshops and concerts

 * Jerry Springer the Opera at Carnegie Hall	       Audience/Ensemble		Jason Moore, Stephen Oremus
 * Dessa Rose (La Chanze & Donna Murphy)		       Annabel				Graciela Daniele
 * Ball (LL Cool J, Anika Noni Rose, Shoshana Bean)	       Muse/Skankette  	Charles Randolph Wright
 * Palazzo Colombino                                      Diva          Basel Switzerland

Film

 * Garden State (Zach Braff & Natalie Portman)		Handi-World Cashier	       Zach Braff      Camelot Pictures

Readings

 * Invisible Life (Lillias White & Chuck Cooper)		Nicole Springer			Sugar Bar, Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj
 * Barnstormer (Natasha Williams & David St, Louis) 	Bessie Coleman			Hartford Stage, Jerry Dixon
 * On, Girl (Jennifer Holliday & Sharon Wilkins)		Soara-Joye			Ars Nova, Lewis Flinn & Steven Sater
 * Deadlines (Brandon Victor Dixon & Darius De Haas)       Franchesca			Charles Randolph Wright
 * Bare        Tonya				Westbank Café, Kristin Hanggi
 * A Good Man        Lettie				York Theater
 * Langston in Harlem (Adriane Lenox & Billy Porter)       Ex- Harlemite			Kent Gash
 * The Funkentine Rapture                Simone Funk			Lee Summers
 * Adam        Allegra				Maurice Brandon Curry
 * Do*rian Gray (Christiane Noll)			       Sybil Vane			Lynne-Taylor Corbett
 * My Name is Alice        Soara-Joye (Charlayne)		Adam Muller
 * The Gospel…Fishman (Michele Pawk)		       Jolene				Eric Shaeffer
 * Starmites (Alaina Reed-Hall)			       Banshee				Don't Tell Mama
 * Taking Step 313        Tonia				Joe's Pub

Regional

 * From the Mississippi Delta        Woman 1				Triad Stage/Donna Bradby
 * Aida                                                Aida				Arvada Center
 * Tick, Tick…Boom!        Susan/Karessa			Alliance/Kent Gash
 * Once on this Island        Asaka				Sacramento M C & Bay Street
 * Ain’t Misbehavin’        Soara-Joye (Armelia)		Huntington Theatre
 * Ragtime                Sarah				Gateway & Weston
 * Beehive        Joye 				Cincinnati Playhouse
 * Once on this Island        Andrea				Mill Mountain Theatre
 * She Loves Me        Amalia Balash			NCC/Robert Einenkel
 * Ceremonies in Dark Old Men        Adele Parker			NCC/Bruce Jenkins
 * A Little Night Music        Desiree			Denver Center

Training

 * Meisner Technique & Sitcom Workshop: J. Beckson Studio
 * Film Audition Workshop: Heidi Marshall
 * The American Musical and Dramatic Academy
 * Nassau Community College: Classical Voice
 * Vocal Coach/Technicians: Scott Conner, Dr. Anat Keidar, Jack Waddell, Dorothy Stone

Awards

 * 2009 New York Music Theatre Festival's "Best of Fest" Outstanding Individual Performance Award Winner(Cross That River)
 * 2006 Henry Award Nominee for Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Aida)
 * Best Actress in a Musical (Aida) -Dreamwell.com