She appeared in the mid-to-late 1990s British television sitcom The Brittas Empire, playing Carole Parkinson, the receptionist who was prone to depression and fits of emotion who permanently kept her children with her in drawers under her desk, and would sometimes be seen feeding them or washing their clothes. Thorpe also starred in a Celebrity edition of The Weakest Link as Madame Morrible, in which she was voted off in the first round.

Thorpe has appeared on stage. She worked extensively at the Royal National Theatre, in London's West End and two Shakespeare seasons at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. She was in the original revival cast of Cabaret as Fraulein Kost at the Lyric Theatre in London on 22 September 2006. Prior to this, she played Mrs. Lovett in the national tour of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, originated the role of Ida Arnold in the Almeida Theatre's original musical, Brighton Rock, and played the role of Madame Thenardier in the hit musical, Les Misérables.

On 14 April 2008, she took over the role of Madame Morrible from Susie Blake in the West End production of Wicked. She played her final performance on 27 March 2010, and was replaced by Julie Legrand.

Thorpe took over the role of Tanya from Jane Gurnett in the West End production of Mamma Mia! on 14 June 2010.

She recently returned to the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park to play the parts of Lottie Childs and Patricia Fodor in Timothy Sheader and Stephen Mear's revival of Crazy For You, for which she was nominated for the 2012 Theatregoers' Choice Awards [1]

Thorpe returned to Wicked to play Madame Morrible from Monday 22 April 2013 until Saturday 16 November 2013, in place of Louise Plowright who withdrew from the role due to illness.