22-year-old Broadway star gears up for return to Wicked and huge role change

Annaleigh Ashford, the 22-year-old Broadway actress who made her debut as Elphaba, Wicked Witch of the West in the touring production of the smash hit musical “Wicked,” is now returning to play Elphaba’s No. 1 rival - and she’s not shy about admitting that her role inside the bubble as Glinda the Good Witch is an exciting prospect, according to a Oct. 7 article published by BroadwayWorld.com.

“It’s so crazy, I can’t even believe it,” Ashford said. “I’m so excited. I just had a lesson this morning with my vocal coach; we were singing through the very top of the show – I sang through it and then we both looked at each other and screamed “Oh!” like little girls! I can’t wait. It’s going to be fun and so great to take a journey every night; to start in one place and end up somewhere completely different.”

Growing up in Denver, Colorado, Ashford said that because her mom was a gym teacher she was often enrolled in sports like gymnastics and soccer when she was a child but that she always knew that singing and dancing were her passions and began taking control of that at age 7, when she asked her mom to put her into acting school.
“I knew what I wanted to do,” Ashford said. “I wanted to be in dance class and having a singing teacher. I looked up at my mom and said: “It is time.” She knew exactly what I meant, so we opened up the Yellow Pages and we flipped to the nearest dance studio – it was this really fabulous little ad and it was for Kit Andre’s Dance and Performing Arts Center – and it was this woman in a top hat, really fabulous.”

And so the young aspiring actress made her mark on the world, starting off as Sandy in the Broadway production of “Grease” right after she was accepted into Marymount Manhattan College. Now, she will be juggling “Wicked” rehearsals while still acting in the Broadway production of “Legally Blonde.”

For Wicked tickets, visit Stubhub.com.

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