JoAnn Gibb is a Scottish theatre actress best known for her role of

Rumpleteazer Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer are fictional characters in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book '' Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. The Jellicle cat duo are mischievous petty thieves who often cause trouble for their human family. Although orig ...

in the 1998 film of Andrew Lloyd Webber's '' Cats'', and as the replacement Pearl the Observation Car in the original production of ''

Starlight Express ''Starlight Express'' is a 1984 British musical, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern engines in the hope o ...

''. She also played Belle in the 2006 UK Productions tour of ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

'' and appeared as Columbia in the 2000 UK national tour of ''

The Rocky Horror Show ''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the ...

''.

Career

Gibb first began her training at the Dance School of Scotland in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, then continuing in

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

Laine Theatre Arts Laine Theatre Arts, sometimes referred to as Laines, is an independent performing arts college, based in the town of Epsom in Surrey, England. The college was founded in 1974 by former professional dancer and dance teacher Betty Laine OBE, and ...

. Her first appearance in a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

West End show was at the

New London Theatre The Gillian Lynne Theatre (formerly New London Theatre) is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden. The Winter Garden Theatre formerly occupied the site until 1965 ...

playing

in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical '' Cats'', 1996–1997. She also understudied and played the roles of Demeter and Jemima in that same production. She subsequently played the role of

in the 1998 '' Cats'' film. In 2003 Gibb played the young Jesse Matthews in the West End production of ''Over My Shoulder – The Story of Jesse Matthews'' at the

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...

. Her performance in the role was reviewed as "pert and sweet if somewhat underpowered" by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

''. ''The Times'' praised Gibb's performance as Ruby in the 2005 musical ''Time's Up'' stating that she gave "a performance of enormous appeal". Some of her other theatre work includes Belle in ''

Disney's Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' is a Disney media franchise comprising a film series and additional merchandise. The success of the original 1991 American animated feature, '' Beauty and the Beast'', directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, led to t ...

'', at the

Dominion Theatre The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre and former cinema on Tottenham Court Road, close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point, in the London Borough of Camden. Planned as primarily a musical theatre, it opened in 1929, but the following year ...

, London, and on tour; Columbia in the national tour of ''

''; and

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

, in the final cast of the original London production of ''

'' at the

Apollo Victoria Theatre The Apollo Victoria Theatre is a West End theatre on Wilton Road in the Westminster district of London, across from London Victoria Station. (The theatre also has an entrance on Vauxhall Bridge Road.) Opened in 1930 as a cinema and variety t ...

. Her work in ''The Rocky Horror Show'' was described as "impressive" in a review in the ''

Coventry Evening Telegraph The ''Coventry Telegraph'' is a local English tabloid newspaper. It was founded as ''The Midland Daily Telegraph'' in 1891 by William Isaac Iliffe, and was Coventry's first daily newspaper. Sold for half a penny, it was a four-page broadsheet new ...

''. The ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' called her "musical queen Jo Gibb" in an article on ''Beauty and the Beast''. Gibb then appeared as Hell Let Loose and Rosalind in '' Beautiful and Damned'' in 2004 at the Lyric Theatre, also understudying and playing the lead role of

Zelda Fitzgerald Zelda Fitzgerald (; July 24, 1900 – March 10, 1948) was an American novelist, painter, dancer, and socialite. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, she was noted for her beauty and high spirits, and was dubbed by her husband F. Scott Fitzgerald ...

, and as Truly Scrumptious in the musical '' Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' in 2005. In 2014 Gibb played the part of Vera in the West End production of ''Songs for Victory'' at the Dominion Theatre. She regularly performs around the world as one third of the singing group "The Patriot Girls".

Personal life

Gibb is married to former ''Beauty and the Beast'' co-star Alex Bourne.

References

External links

*
Jo Gibb
CV at ''Songs for Victory'' (2014) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibb, Jo 1976 births Living people People from Bo'ness Scottish musical theatre actresses Scottish stage actresses