Joanna Ampil

Joanna Ampil is a musical theatre and film actress from the Philippines and United Kingdom.

Joanna, at seventeen years old, auditioned for an open call in Manila for the original production of Miss Saigon in front of director Sir Nicolas Hytner.

Despite not having any experience in theatre or the performing arts, she landed the lead role of Kim and was flown to London to rehearse with the West End company at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

She performed on recordings of Miss Saigon (The Complete Symphonic Recording) as Kim, Jesus Christ Superstar (1996 London Revival Cast) as Mary Magdalene, The Postman and the Poet (Concept Cast) as Beatriz Gonzalez and Ang Larawan “The Portrait” (Original Soundtrack) as Candida.

Her debut musicals album "Joanna Ampil" was released 2007 by JAY Records, followed with pop albums "Try Love" in 2010 and "Joanna Ampil" in 2014 with VIVA Records.

Her latest singles are Reach for the Stars, Always Better and Memory.

In 2008, she made her Philippine theatre debut as Maria in West Side Story, alongside Christian Bautista's Tony.

She played Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music, at the Newport Performing Arts Theatre and was followed by Nellie Forbush in South Pacific in Concert.

She was invited by Philippine's Prima Ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde to play Inang Bayan in the ballet Rebel EDSA 30.

She has since reprised her role as Kim in the original Australian production, the original United Kingdom and Ireland Tour and 10th Anniversary Performance.

Ampil's other notable roles include Mary Magdalene in the West End revival of Jesus Christ Superstar, Éponine in Les Misérables, Fantine in Les Misérables, Mimi in Rent, Christmas Eve in Avenue Q, Sheila Franklin in Hair, Thanh in the world premiere of The Real Love, Heidi in I Sing!, The ingénue June in the West End premiere of The Musical of Musicals: The Musical!, Blue Fairy in Pinocchio: A New Musical, West End Women (UK Tour), The Magic of Disney in Concert (Hyde Park, London), Defying Gravity: The Songs of Stephen Schwartz (Sydney), Grizabella in Cats, and reprising Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar in Concert.

In 2015, she played Francesca Johnson in the international premiere of The Bridges of Madison County, and Jenna in the international premiere of Waitress in 2018.

In 2017, Ampil portrayed Candida Marasigan in the feature film Ang Larawan for which she won the Metro Manila Film Festival Award for Best Actress, PMPC Star Awards, Gawad Pasado, Luna, Gawad Tangi, Guillermo Award, Urduja Best Heritage Film Awards and the prestigious Gawad Urian Best Actress Awards.

She worked on the television series "Call Me Tita" "Babae Sa Septic Tank 3", The Quest, Mummy Autopsy and Broken News.

She portrayed Corazon in Maalaala Mo Kaya's "Kadena" wherein she won the GEMS Award for Best Actress for Television.

She performed Grizabella in the 40th Anniversary Tour of Cats (South Korea, 2020/2021) during the height of COVID-19 pandemic with socially distanced audiences and local government protocols; along with Phantom of the Opera World Tour (South Korea and Taiwan, 2020).

In the summer of 2021, Joanna made her Chichester Festival Theatre debut in Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific as Bloody Mary.

In the summer of 2022, she reprised the role of Bloody Mary in London ahead of a UK Tour.

In 2023, she played The Engineer in the brand new production Miss Saigon at Sheffield Theatres by special arrangement with Sir Cameron Mackintosh, bringing together the original creators of the show Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil along with Artistic Directors Robert Hastie and Anthony Lau in editing the book, lyrics and creating new arrangements for the reimagined production.

Joanna joined international stars of the stage and screen, including Michael Ball, Daniel Dae Kim, Maria Friedman, Audra McDonald, Julian Ovenden, Lucy St. Louis, Aaron Tveit, Marisha Wallace and Patrick Wilson in My Favorite Things: The Rodgers & Hammerstein 80th Anniversary Concert, featuring a 40-piece orchestra on 12 December 2023, at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

The filmed musical concert will be screened in cinemas across the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and North America, and will be part of the PBS Great Performances broadcast this Spring 2024.