"Soara", her birth name and "Joy", her adopted name. Now the past and present are together, at last!

 

Soara-Joye: Singing bird soars joyfully.

 

This artistic and passionate Queens, New York native has been called a "powerhouse" by creatives and critics all around the country! Soara-Joye Ross is an award winning multi-faceted actor and singer that has performed on Broadway, at Carnegie Hall & Lincoln Center, in Regional Theaters in the US, toured in productions overseas, in Film and now... TV! (Look out for her role of 'Giselle' on the new HBO Comedy, "Crashing" directed by Judd Apatow in early 2017!)

 

She was named, "A True Musical Theatre Diva!", by BroadwayBox.com, while starring in the hilarious Off-Broadway comedy, "Disenchanted" in 2015, where she brought the house down every night as the 'The Princess who Kissed the Frog'.

 

 

 

 

Soara-Joye has been performing since the tender age of 5, where she had her 1st solo singing, “One penny is just a penny…” at her kindergarten graduation. She’s been studying classically since the age of 12 and continues her studies today. As a vocal performance major at Bayside High School, this social butterfly performed in numerous concerts as a soloist. From "trick or treating" at the age of four ~ dressed up as the little orphan Annie ~ to reenacting the "Stay With Me" scene from "Into the Woods", with her best friend aka 'Rapunzel', in her high school hallways, this "singing bird that soars joyfully", has always been in love with performing and musical theater! She was also part of The All City High School chorus where she performed at Lincoln Center as a soloist at age 16 and toured Europe as a soloist and conductor all before graduating high school. At the same time, she was part of Black Spectrum Theater's Youth Company performing in plays and even a musical, "A Trip To Nowhere", that garnered the company an Audelco Award. (Check out a clip of her doing the poem, “Being the Mother of a Black Child” at a high school performance in the media section!)

 

Ms. Ross continued her studies at Nassau Community College in Vocal Performance and starred in her first musicals “School House Rock Live” and then, “She Loves Me”, where she attained the coveted role of 'Amalia Balash'. After performing her first leading role that year, all she could think about was musical theater, so she auditioned and received a scholarship to attend The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC. What a dream this was for her and she would prove to everyone how grateful she was for this incredible opportunity! Because of her love and dedication to her art, she got up at 4am almost every morning from her home in Queens, headed to AMDA and waited for the custodian to open the doors of the school at 7:30am.  She couldn't wait to practice everything she was learning. She would rehearse songs, dance and scenes in the black box theater and studios before classes began at 9am. By the time she graduated from AMDA, she had already done her first Equity Showcase with all Broadway performers and was auditioning and being called back for leads in Broadway Musicals!

 

Soara-Joye booked shows on Broadway, Off-Broadway, tours around the country & abroad, and played at reputable regional  theaters across the country, but wasn't booking the roles she really wanted; the leads on Broadway! She took a good look within and after a long talk with her long-time agent, Renée Glicker at About Artists Agency, she decided to take off a year (considering she was slated to be in the upcoming new musical “Dessa Rose” at Lincoln Center that next year) and go to J. Beckson Studios on scholarship, where she studied The Meisner Technique under the tutelage of JoAnna Beckson herself. "It was the best thing I did for my career!" After that she was unstoppable...booking leads all over!

 

"Aida", "Tick, tick...Boom", "Ragtime", "From the Mississippi Delta", "Once On This Island"...! You name it! One of her favorite leading roles in NYC was, "sexually voracious and outspoken but genuine and poignant SBF 2" in the two woman comedy, Single Black Female directed by Colman Domingo at Playwrights Horizons and then, The Duke on 42nd. She originated the role of 'Mama Lila', in the new musical, Cross That River  where, "Ross draws tears from your eyes, elevates you out of your seat and convinces you there really is a better place for everyone. People’s bodies were still ringing with catharsis after her performance." For her riveting performance, Soara was garnered NYMF's 2009’s "Best of Fest" Award for Outstanding Individual Performance.

 

 In 2009, Ms. Ross starred in the popular European show Palazzo Colombino in Basel, Switzerland. Other International credits include Smokey Joe’s Café and Ain’t Misbehavin’. Ms. Ross also toured nationally in Smokey Joe’s Café w/ Gladys Knight. Soara-Joye’s NY Workshop credits include: The First Noel, directed by Steven Broadnax III, Dessa Rose, directed by Graciela Daniele and Ball directed by Charles Randolph Wright. In July 2008 Ross was asked to play the leading role of Nicole Springer, in the musical adaptation of the late E. Lynn Harris’ award-winning novel Invisible Life, by the world-renowned composers Ashford and Simpson.

 

Things are just heating up for Soara's career because there is soo much more to come! She is currently reprising the role of 'Delores' in Lelund Durond Thompson and Jason Michael Webb's beautiful new musical, "The First Noel" that will play at the legendary Apollo Theater every winter on the mainstage! The sky is not the limit... I will not be a star, but a galaxy! Thanks for stopping by! 💋