Auditioning

Joanna Merlin was a recipient of the Casting Society of America's Artios Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dramatic Feature Film Casting for Bertolucci's The Last Emperor and for Best Musical Theater Casting for Sonheim and Lapine's Into the Woods. As Harold Prince's casting director, she cast the original Broadway productions of Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, Pacific Overtures, and Evita, among others and her film casting includes Michael Cimino's Year of the Dragon and Merchant Ivory's Mr. and Mrs. Bridge.

As an actor, Merlin has appeared in six Broadway productions, including Becket, in which she played opposite Laurence Olivier, and Fiddler on the Roof, in which she created the role of Tzeitle. Her film appearances include City of Angels; Murder and murder; Two Bits; Class Action; Mystic Pizza; The Killing Fields; Fame; Baby, It's You; and The Ten Commandents; and her television appearances include Northern Exposure; Law and Order; L.A. Law; A Marriage: O'Keefe and Stieglitz; and In a Child's Name.

Joanna Merlin teaches in the Graduate Acting Program of New York University, the Actors Center in New York, and the Manhattan School of Music Professional Musical Theater Workshop. She is cofounder of the Non-Traditional Casting Project, and is a member of the Tony Awards Nominating Committee.