Lisa Stokke was part of the first class ever to graduate from LIPA, Paul McCartney's Drama School in Liverpool, and only months after doing so she secured her first West End leading role – originating Sophie in Mamma Mia! At the time nobody knew how the show would be received, but the show is currently preparing to celebrate its fifteenth anniversary in the West End and hundreds of actresses all over the world have played the part Lisa created.
Lisa, originally from Norway, left Mamma Mia after a year and has gone on to have a hugely successful and varied career. Her stage credits include: Grace Farrell in Annie (Folketeateret in Oslo), Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls (Piccadilly Theatre and UK Tour) and Florence in Chess (Bømlo, Norway). She recently provided the Norwegian voiceover for Idina Menzel in the Norwegian language version of the new Disney movie Frozen, playing Elsa.
The star is currently rehearsing for The World Goes ‘Round which opens at the Union Theatre on 15th January. No stranger to working at the Union Theatre, London’s top fringe venue, Lisa has previously appeared as Genevieve in The Baker’s Wife and Emma Goldman in Assassins. Directed by Kirk Jameson, The World Goes ‘Round celebrates the music of Kander and Ebb. The show features music from their most notable work, including songs from Cabaret, Chicago and Kiss of the Spiderwoman.
I recently spoke to Lisa about why she thinks Kander and Ebb’s music is so timeless, how voicing a Disney princess was a dream come true and her dream to return to Mamma Mia as Donna for the shows twentieth anniversary…
First of all we have to discuss Mamma Mia! When you were cast in the original production did you have any idea the show was going to become this long-running global phenomenon?
No! Just before we opened, while all the cast had faith in the show we were so scared that we were going to be the laughing stock of London. Not because we didn’t believe in it, but because London critics can be pretty cruel and Abba were yet to have their big revival. So when we started doing previews and the audiences laughed at stuff we were all like “Oh my god, we’re a comedy!” Seriously, up until then Jenny Galloway (the original Rosie) understood that it was funny whereas I didn’t think Sophie was a funny character. All the people who were playing comedy roles went flying when the audiences started coming in. We were doing new things right up until opening night, everything was changing every minute. None of us could ever, ever have dreamed that fourteen years on Mamma Mia would still be one of the bestselling shows in the world! I’m crossing my fingers that in a few years, for the twentieth anniversary, they’ll let me play Donna – that would be really fun!
