Joan Hess

Joan Hess most recently completed her fifth Broadway show, playing the role of the wealthy and hilarious Tanya in Broadway’s Mamma Mia. She was also seen as Jessica (the “Leggy Blonde”) in HBO’s new Grammy-award–winning comedy series, Flight of the Conchords. Prior to that, she had played the plum role of Billie Dawn in Garson Kanin's classic play Born Yesterday. She was featured on Broadway as Sophia in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, where she also understudied the lead roles of Christine and Muriel. She appeared at Lincoln Center in the lead role in the powerful new Lynn Ahrens/ Stephen Flaherty piece, Dessa Rose, directed by the 10 time Tony Award nominee, Graciela Daniele.

She appeared as Betty in the First National Tour of Sunset Boulevard, Polly in the First National Tour of Crazy for You, and toured with 42nd Street and Beehive, as well.

Hess was featured in the PBS Great Performances series My Favorite Broadway: The Love Songs. She has performed with many symphonies across the country from the Atlanta Symphony, North Carolina Symphony and the Detroit Symphony to the Winnipeg Symphony and the Florida Sunshine Pops in Boca Raton.

Joan served as script supervisor on the independent short film entitled Down in the Mouth. She also hosted and produced live television for three seasons, acted in over thirty commercials, modeled for years and is a Colorado native.