Joann Yarrow

Joann Maria Yarrow is a professional director and producer with over 35 years of experience and specializes in story development across serval platforms. She is currently the Director for Community Engagement at Syracuse Stage.

Joann came to New York from Miami where she was the Artistic Director of Teatro Prometeo, the only Spanish-language Theatre Conservatory and repertory in the US. She directed and produced over 80 productions in Spanish, translated, adapted and commissioned new works that have toured nationally and internationally in multilingual communities. Joann worked for Hal Prince on seven Broadway productions and co-founded A Laboratory for Actor Training with Vernice Miller inspired by their collaborations with Odin Teatret in Denmark and ISTA, the International School of Theatre Anthropology.

Navigating between film, animation and stage, Joann is the founder of Distinctive Voices, LLC

focusing on narrative consulting, commercial voice-over and media production

as well as the executive director of Live Animation Studios, and Tres Montruos Media in Spain. She is a story development consultant for ADA Animation in Nairobi, Kenya and a voice-over coach with Lau Lapides Company in Boston.

At Syracuse Stage, Joann curates community dialogues, inviting the public to discuss and address topics that surface from Syracuse Stage’s productions or local projects. She also directs Kyle Bass’ "Citizen James or a Young Man Without a Country"

about the young James Baldwin (Summer 2024)

"Commanding Space" by Stephanie Leary about Annie Easley, one of the first African American computer scientists to work for NASA (Spring 2024) and "Our Words Are Seeds" by Ty Defoe, created in collaboration with community members of the nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. (Spring 2025).

Joann is a featured director in the books: “The art and practice of directing in Latin America: Central America and United States;” Latinx Actor Training

Inside the Performance Workshop: A sourcebook for Rasaboxes

and A History of Latinx Performing Arts in the U.S.

(Routledge 2023)

She is passionate about fostering multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary programs and productions that challenge and shift our thoughts, actions, and perspectives.