Ashley Brown originated the title role in Mary Poppins on Broadway, for which she received Outer Critics, Drama League and Drama Desk nominations for Best Actress. Brown also starred in the national tour of Mary Poppins, garnering a Garland Award for “Best Performance in a Musical.” Brown’s other Broadway credits include Belle in The Beauty and The Beast and the national tour of Disney's On the Record. Brown most recently starred as Mother Abbess in multiple Tony Award-winning director Jack O’Brien’s production of The Sound of Music. Starring in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Oklahoma brought her further critical acclaim. She previously played Magnolia opposite Nathan Gunn in Francesca Zembello’s Showboat at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Brown has performed with virtually all of the top orchestras in North America, including the Boston Pops, New York Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra at Disney Hall, Pittsburgh Symphony, New York Pops at Carnegie Hall (five times), Fort Worth Symphony, Cincinnati Pops, Philadelphia Orchestra (two times), Milwaukee Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony (three times), Seattle Symphony, Houston Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Jacksonville (twice) and Philly Pops. She has also performed with the BBC Orchestra opposite Josh Groban. Brown made her solo concert debut at The Kennedy Center as part of Barbara Cook’s Spotlight Series and has appeared in New York City at prestigious venues including Feinstein’s at the Regency and Birdland. Other projects include star turns in The Golden Apple at City Center Encores, Hello, Dolly! at The Goodspeed Opera House, The Sound of Music at the St. Louis MUNY (for which she won a Kevin Kline award), Limelight at the La Jolla Playhouse, and her own PBS special titled Ashley Brown: Call Me Irresponsible, which received a PBS Telly Award. Other television credits include NBC’s The Sound of Music.
Brown is the voice of Disneyland’s 60th anniversary celebrations, singing the newly penned Richard Sherman song “A Kiss Goodnight.” Both Brown’s album of Broadway and American Songbook standards, Speak Low, and her newly recorded Christmas EP, The Secret of Christmas, are available on Ghostlight/Warner Brothers. Brown is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
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