Ashley Brown (born February 3, 1982) is an American singer and actress who is best known for playing the titular character in the United States national tour and
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
productions of ''
Mary Poppins''.
Early life
Brown was born February 3, 1982, in
Gulf Breeze, Pensacola, Florida, the youngest of four children. She started singing when she was 6 years old and then started professional singing lessons when she was 14. She studied at
Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
.
Career
Brown initially caught the attention of
casting director
In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra for a particular role or part in a script, screenp ...
Tara Rubin not long after graduating from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. After a successful audition, she was cast in the Disney touring production ''
On the Record''. This in turn led to her Broadway debut on September 20, 2005, replacing Brooke Tansley as the lead character,
Belle, in the
Disney Theatrical production 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 ...
''. She departed the role on May 28, 2006, after eight months and she was succeeded by
Sarah Litzsinger.
On November 16, 2006, ''Mary Poppins'' opened on Broadway with Brown starring as the title character. Brown left the Broadway company on October 5, 2008, after playing the role for two years and was replaced by
Scarlett Strallen
Scarlett Aimee Vaigncourt-Strallen (born 3 July 1982) is an English stage actress, best known for her work in musical theatre productions in the West End and on Broadway. She has received two Olivier Award nominations, in 2006 for her portray ...
who previously played the role in the
West End.
In March 2007, Brown appeared on ''
All My Children'' as herself.
On March 11, 2009, Brown reprised the role of
Mary Poppins in the US national tour. She left the tour on February 7, 2010, and was succeeded by
Caroline Sheen
Caroline Sheen is a Welsh actress who has played leading roles on stage in the West End alongside TV and film appearances. She won a Helen Hayes award for playing the role of Mary Poppins on the National Tour of America.
Background
Born and ...
.
On October 20, 2009, Brown performed the role of
Snow White
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection '' Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...
in the world symphonic premiere of ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...
– A Symphonic Retelling'', at the
Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, conducted by
John Mauceri
John Francis Mauceri (born September 12, 1945) is an American conductor, producer, educator and writer. Since making his professional conducting debut almost half a century ago, he has appeared with most of the world's great orchestras, guest-con ...
.
She has recorded her first solo album of American songbook standards, which was released in January 2010.
Brown played Maria in
The Muny
The St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre (commonly known as The Muny) is an amphitheatre, amphitheater located in St. Louis, Missouri. The theatre seats 11,000 people with about 1,500 free seats in the last nine rows that are available on a first ...
production of ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...
'', which ran from July 26 to August 1, 2010. For this role she won the
Kevin Kline Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.
Brown starred as Oona in the world-premiere of the new musical ''
Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin'', which ran at the
La Jolla Playhouse
La Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.
History
La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under ...
from September 7 through October 17, 2010.
Brown played the role of Mary Poppins again in the Broadway production from March 8 to July 17, 2011, while
Laura Michelle Kelly
Laura Michelle Kelly (born 4 March 1981) is an English actress and singer, best known for originating the roles of Mary Poppins in ''Mary Poppins'' in the West End, for which she received the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical, and S ...
was away filming a movie.
Brown played Magnolia Hawks alongside
Nathan Gunn as
Gaylord Ravenal,
Alyson Cambridge
Alyson Cambridge is an American operatic soprano.Matt Collar"Alyson Cambridge , Biography & History,"AllMusic. In addition to opera, she sings classical song, jazz, and American songbook and popular song. She is also known for her work as a mod ...
as
Julie LaVerne, and
Morris Robinson
Morris DeRhon Robinson (born March 18, 1969) is an American bass opera singer and former All-American college football player who has performed with the Metropolitan Opera, at Carnegie Hall, at La Scala in Milan, Italy, at the Sydney Opera House ...
as Joe, in
Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello (born August 24, 1956) is an American opera and theatre director. She serves as director of Glimmerglass Festival and the Washington National Opera.
Early life and education
Born in New York City, Zambello lived in Europe whe ...
's production of ''
Show Boat
''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...
'' for the
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria ...
's, which ran from February 12 to March 17, 2012. It was broadcast on
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
stations in June 2012, the first time a complete performance of ''Show Boat'' has ever been broadcast on radio.
In 2013, Brown made her sold-out solo
Carnegie Hall debut with the
New York Pops as well as having a minor role in the television broadcast ''
The Sound of Music Live!
''The Sound of Music Live!'' is an American television special that was originally broadcast by NBC on December 5, 2013. Produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the special was an adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1959 Broadway musical ''T ...
'', in which she played Ursula, one of the servants in the Von Trapp household.
In 2015, she sang "A Kiss Goodnight" by
Richard M. Sherman
Richard Morton Sherman (born June 12, 1928) is an American songwriter who specialized in musical films with his brother Robert B. Sherman. According to the official Walt Disney Company website and independent fact checkers, "the Sherman Brot ...
, the exit song from ''
Disneyland Forever'', a production that commemorated
Disneyland
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
's 60th anniversary.
Brown played the Mother Abbess in the national tour of ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...
'', which launched September 2015. She then played Mrs. Juniper and Madame Calypso in the 2017
Encores! production of ''
The Golden Apple'', and returned to Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops in December 2018.
Personal life
Brown became engaged to actor
Daniel Wisler on April 18, 2010; they married November 5, 2011.
Brown gave birth to a baby girl on May 9, 2016.
Awards and nominations
Theatre credits
Tours
Discography
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ashley
1982 births
Living people
Actresses from Florida
American musical theatre actresses
People from Gulf Breeze, Florida
University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music alumni
21st-century American women