Biography
Lisa Stokke was born in the Arctic town of Tromsø in Northern Norway to a chiropractor father Øivind and her American Mother Judy who's an artist and writer, and her older sister Monica. She pursued the arts at an early age, taking payment from neighbors for putting on shows, utilizing her entrepreneurial and performing arts skills at a young age. She attended ballet lessons, piano lessons and choir, and was forever the class clown at her local school, taking every opportunity to perform. At age 18, she came third in Norway's then biggest televised talent show "Talentiaden" despite having acute laryngitis, and became an instant people's favorite. In 1996 she moved to the city of Liverpool in the UK where she spent 3 years earning her BA honors degree in Acting at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts as the very first batch of students to ever attend. Lisa is probably best known though for originating the role of Sophie in the original production of the musical Mamma Mia, and for the original cast recording for which she is the proud owner of a US platinum disc for her work. She earned this role straight after her graduation, and gained world wide recognition and glowing reviews for her portrayal of Sophie.
Recently, her proudest moment came when she was invited to voice the Snow Queen Elsa (Idina Menzel) in the Norwegian language version of Disney's monster hit Frozen. This was especially exciting as the film is based on Norwegian nature and culture, and she has been a die hard Disney fan her whole life, and she saw it as a huge honor being a part of the film's epic journey.
Her stage work includes: Grace Farrell in Annie (Folketeateret (The people's theatre) in Oslo) Genevieve in The Baker's Wife (Michael Strassen, Union Theatre, Best Actress Nomination) Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls (Michael Grandage and Rob Ashford, later Jamie Lloyd, UK tour and Piccadilly theatre) Emma Goldman in Assassins (Michael Strassen, Union Theatre) Florence in Chess (Bømlo, Norway)
Her film and TV work includes: Merete in "Småbyliv" (Suburbia, 8 episodes, Norwegian Broadcasting) Herself in the docudrama "Lisa Goes to Hollywood" that she created (6 episodes for Norwegian Broadcasting) US Naval Officer O'Connor in the feature film "Long Flat Balls2" directed by Harald Zwart Jodee Tressky in "Jonathan Creek, Satan's Chimney", BBC
She has also performed at numerous concerts around the world: LA PressClub honoring Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Los Angeles, 46664 Arctic concert for and with Nelson Mandela, Tromsø, Norway, Asian/European Political summit at Buckingham Palace for HRH, London
This summer Lisa will play the lead role of Florence in a philharmonic concert version of Chess the musical in her home town of Tromsø, Norway during the Chess Olympics.
