| Annaleigh Ashford | |
|---|---|
 Annaleigh Ashford in February 2008 |
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| Born | Annaleigh Swanson June 25, 1985 Denver, Colorado |
| Occupation | Stage, film actress |
| Official website | |
Annaleigh Ashford (born Annaleigh Swanson on June 25, 1985 in Denver, Colorado) is an American actress known for her recent Broadway credits in Wicked, Legally Blonde, and Hair.
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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 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.
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 the role of Glinda in the first national tour 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. 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, this time on Broadway, beginning October 9, 2007 when she replaced 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 worked 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 small 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]
Ashford recently reprised the role as Glinda in the Chicago company of Wicked after playing her final performance in the Broadway company of Wicked on May 11, 2008. She began her run on June 3, 2008 replacing Kate Fahrner[3] and stayed with the production till its closure on January 25, 2009.[4] Recently, Ashford played Wednesday Addams in the staged reading for musical adaptation to The Addams Family with Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth.[5] On the Teen.com mini-series "Haute and Bothered" as McKenzie, an aspiring fashion designer.
In 2009 it was announced that Ashford would take place as one of the principal characters and singers in the new vaudeville styled Cirque du Soleil show, 'Banana Shpeel'. However, even following a national television broadcast on America's Got Talent, it was announced that Ashford and her colleague Michael Longoria were no longer in the cast of the show. Publicists announced that the two leading vocalists had fallen victims of a creative decision to remove large portions of dialogue from the show, therefore making their characters non-existent. Ashford was originally slated to stay in the production from its premier in Chicago until sometime in 2010.
Ashford is currently starring as Jeanie in the Broadway revival of Hair. She succeeded Kacie Sheik in the role beginning March 9, 2010.[6]
   | Ashford 'Wicked's' new Glinda - Ashford 'Wicked's' new Glinda - The Denver Post |
| | Annaleigh Ashford - The Official Site - Annaleigh Ashford - The Official Site |
| | IBDB Entry - Annaleigh Ashford | IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information |
| | Wicked Ends Lengthy Chicago Sit-Down Engagement Jan. 25 - Playbill News: Wicked Ends Lengthy Chicago Sit-Down Engagement Jan. 25 |
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