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SOREL
JOHNSON
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| What can I tell you about me? I come from a theatrical background, both my parents are actors so I suppose it was inevitable that I should want to emulate them. After a childhood yearning to be a ballerina was quashed by rejection from the Royal Ballet School, I switched to acting and success came more easily. Upon leaving school I trained at the Drama Studio for a year and then, to my great surprise, realised my dream to be a dancer briefly, firstly abroad to get my union card and then as part of the Dance Centre's professional team. It didn't take me to long to discover that I was not Sylvie Guillem and that acting was where my interest lay. So I didn't look back after I landed my first paid job as an actress in rep in Scotland. I then worked pretty frequently on stage in London, in film and telly. |
| When I was 25, I met my first husband, Robert Gill, and decided to give up acting for a while and do something 'useful' - ha! I quickly realised after much soul searching that I'd made a mistake and that being creative was an essential part of my wellbeing. During the interim I had the good fortune to be sponsored by the Manpower Services Commission to go on a secretarial course. Having passed the course very quickly, I did a deal with the college and spent the rest of my time teaching myself their computers (which no-one knew how to use) and writing a manual for the students. I then worked on a secret government report for 8 weeks as a DTP operator and subsequently, as a PA to the Proprietor of a PR company that specialised in food and drink accounts. After a nine month stint there and the break up of my marriage, I left to work freelance and reopen my career as a performer. Over this period I had been attending a very lively church in Notting Hill and singing, I thought, unobtrusively in the congregation. I was very fond of singing harmonies to myself and several people encouraged me to take this further. I started singing as part of the choir on stage and then as a soloist. By this time I was working part time as PA to Rita Cruise O'Brien, professor of communications, who was taking a sabbatical to set up a New York delicatessen/restaurant in Soho. I had exploring and listening to jazz and when the Soho Jazz Festival promoters approached us to put on an all-star charity week I managed to persuade Rita to give me a tryout as a singer. It was very successful and I started gigging weekly playing alongside various jazz afficiandos and gigging with various bands as a backing singer and featured vocalist - an education in itself. I went on to record some backing vocals for a songwriting team who asked me if I might sing solo. A week later we had a deal with a small record label and a single release, "People of the World", that was play-listed for 8 weeks on Radio 1. The beginning of my affair with the music industry had begun.... |
| I combined work as an actress, and freelance PR for a few years whilst starting to write songs and continue singing until I met my husband, Will Parnell. We had met when I was 17 and passed like ships in the night through each other's lives several times - I had worked with his elder brother, Ric, part of a three-piece songwriting team signed to Sony a couple of years before but hadn't run into Will. However, when we were both booked for a gig in Monte Carlo our romance flourished and we've been together now for 9 years. We started writing together and settled down. I decided to drop my other activities and concentrate on music and acting again until Lola arrived 5 years ago and changed my plans altogether. |
| Since her birth, I have spent the majority of my time at home but have come out of my domestic fug for the odd voice over, some singing and session work and songwriting along with a few ads, a day on a movie and a season at the NuffieldTheatre in Southampton. I also have been studying metaphysics and recently ran a three-year course with astrologer, Alan Oken. |
| I bought my first digital camera three years ago and started to experiment with photography more seriously. Since when I have found myself spending more and more time playing with images and taking photographs. I am now looking at taking this new passion forward with some formal study. |
| Well that's a little about me, you'll have to wait for my novel for the unexpurgated version...however, I've posted up my CVs for anyone who wants listings of my work. |