Annaleigh Ashford
Annaleigh Ashford | |
|---|---|
| Born | Annaleigh Swanson |
| Occupation(s) | Stage, film actress |
Annaleigh Ashford (born Annaleigh Swanson on June 25, 1985 in Denver, Colorado) is an American actress known for her recent Broadway credits in Wicked and Legally Blonde.
Personal life
Annaleigh Ashford was born in Denver, Colorado to Holli Swanson, a gym teacher. She studied at Denver's Kit Andre Performing Arts Center and acted and sang in numerous performances in her hometown until she graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in just three years at the age of 16. She then attended Marymount Manhattan College, where she earned a degree in theater in another three years at the age of 19.
Career
Ashford's professional career began at age nine, when she was cast as the lead in Ruthless at Theatre on Broadway. At fourteen, she was profiled as “The Teen to Watch” by the Rocky Mountain News. She performed in Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey’s Feeling Electric as Natalie, and joined Rent's Anthony Rapp at the New York Musical Theatre Festival.
In 2004, while hanging around in NYC's Lower East Side club scene, Ashford met nightlife personality Lady Starlight, a local rock DJ and performance artist. Lady Starlight invited the budding starlet to dance at her 70's glitter rock party "Lady Starlight's English Disco, and christened her Hollywood Starr.
Soon after graduating from college, Ashford got her big break understudying and performing the role of Glinda in the First National (US) touring production of the Broadway hit Wicked. She traveled with the show for 10 months, until she left in 2007 to originate the role of Margot in Legally Blonde: The Musical, her Broadway debut. She also understudied the lead role of Elle Woods. However, she only appeared in the role of Elle once on a pre-planned night. She was featured on the original cast recording and appeared in the MTV televised airing. She left the show in September 2007 to reprise her role as Glinda in Wicked at the Gershwin Theater, replacing actress Kendra Kassebaum. [1] After spending about eight months in the role, she was replaced by Kassebaum who returned to the role of Glinda. She plans to continue to work on a musical adaptation of Catch Me if You Can as Brenda Strong. She previously did a staged reading for the project this past summer under the Tony Award-winning director of Hairspray, Jack O'Brien.
In 2008, she made her film debut with a bit part in Sex and the City: The Movie playing a "spoiled label queen." She also appeared in the film, Rachel Getting Married as a counter girl.[2]
Annaleigh played her final performance as Glinda in the Broadway company of Wicked on May 11. Currently, she is reprising her role as Glinda in the Chicago company of Wicked. She began her run on June 3 replacing Kate Fahrner.[3] It is still unknown as to when she is leaving the Chicago company, but it is expected that she will stay until Wicked in Chicago's closing in January of 2009. Recently, Ashford played Wednesday Addams in the staged reading for musical adaptation to The Addams Family with Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth.[4]
References
- ^ John Moore (2007-08-29). "Ashford 'Wicked's' new Glinda". Denver Post. Retrieved 2007-09-30.
- ^ Annaleigh Ashford
- ^ "Chicago's 'Wicked' snags the Broadway Glinda". 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- ^ Playbill News: Lane, Neuwirth, Chamberlin, McCarthy and Arden Featured in Addams Family Reading
External links
- Annaleigh Ashford - The Official Site
- Annaleigh Ashford - Approved Fansite
- Please use a more specific IBDB template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Yahoo! Article
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