Annaleigh Ashford

Annaleigh Ashford starred in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street on Broadway.

Tony Award-winning actor Annaleigh Ashford is known for her stage credits, which include Legally Blonde: The Musical, Kinky Boots, and Sunday in the Park with George, as well as television credits, including B Positive and American Crime Story.

Born June 25, 1985, in Denver, Colorado, Ashford started acting, dancing, and singing early on, getting her first lead role at age 9 in the musical Ruthless! She starred in several Denver-area productions, including Grease, Anything Goes, and Little Women, before attending Marymount Manhattan College to study theatre. One of her first roles in New York was Natalie in Feeling Electric (which became Next to Normal) at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. She then joined Wicked's first national tour, playing Pfanne and Glinda’s understudy.

Ashford made her Broadway debut in Legally Blonde: The Musical, where she originated the role of Margot and stayed with the production until 2007. Not long after, Ashford was back in Wicked, playing Glinda on Broadway before joining the Chicago production in the same role. Later, she participated in several staged readings, including The Addams Family as Wednesday and Bring It On: The Musical as Campbell. She also performed in several off-Broadway productions, such as Rent and Dogfight.

Ashford returned to Broadway in 2013 to play Lauren in Kinky Boots, which earned her several award nominations, including at the Tonys. In 2014, she played Essie Carmichael in the You Can’t Take It With You Broadway revival alongside James Earl Jones and Rose Byrne. Her performance won her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, a Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award.

In 2016, Ashford starred in a critically acclaimed production of Sunday in the Park with George opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, both at New York City Center and in its 10-week Broadway run. Afterward, Ashford appeared in several television shows and films, including American Crime Story and the Jennifer Lopez comedy Second Act. She then landed the lead role of Gina in the CBS series B Positive for two seasons.

In 2023, Ashford returned to Broadway to star in Sweeney Todd, where she plays Mrs. Lovett opposite Josh Groban.