| Biography | Ashley Brown (born 3 February 1982) is an actress who is best known for playing the title character in the United States national tour and Broadway productions of Mary Poppins.
Brown was born February 3, 1982 in Pensacola, Florida, she is 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.
Brown initially caught the attention of casting director Tara Rubin not long after graduating from the University of 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 Walt Disney Theatrical production of Beauty and the Beast. 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 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.
On October 20, 2009, Brown performed the role of Snow White in the world symphonic premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - A Symphonic Retelling, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
She has recorded her first solo album of American songbook standards, which was released in January 2010.[3]
Brown played Maria in The Muny production of The Sound of Music, which ran from July 26 - August 1, 2010.[4] For this role she won the Kevin Kline Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.[5]
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 from September 7 through October 17, 2010.[6]
Brown played the role of Mary Poppins again in the Broadway production from March 8 - July 17, 2011 while Laura Michelle Kelly was away filming a movie.
Brown played Magnolia Hawks alongside Nathan Gunn as Gaylord Ravenal, Alyson Cambridge as Julie LaVerne, and Morris Robinson as Joe, in Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Show Boat, which ran from February 12 to March 17, 2012.[8] It is due to be broadcast on NPR stations on June 16, 2012, the first time a complete performance of Show Boat has ever been broadcast on radio.
In 2013, she had a minor role in the television broadcast The Sound of Music Live!, in which she played Ursula, one of the servants in the Von Trapp household.
In 2015, she sing of Kiss Goodnight from Disneyland Forever, the Disney Legendary songwriter Richard M. Sherman brought to Disneyland's 60th Anniversary Exit Music.
Brown played the Mother Abbess in the national tour of The Sound of Music, which launched September 201 |