Ashley Brown to Be Beauty‘s New Belle
(Photo © Joan Marcus)
Ashley Brown will take over the role of Belle in the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast on September 20, succeeding Brooke Tansley.
Brown will become the 15th actress to play the role during the show’s 11-year run. A recent graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, she was discovered by casting agent Tara Rubin, who cast her immediately in the Disney musical revue On the Record; that show has been touring the country for the past year.
Other actresses who have played Belle on Broadway include Susan Egan (who originated the role), Sarah Uriarte Berry, Kerry Butler, Deborah Gibson, Andrea McArdle, and pop star Toni Braxton.
Beauty and the Beast opened on April 18, 1994. It was nominated for nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Score and Best Director of a Musical (Robert Jess Roth, who will helm the upcoming musical Lestat). The show’s sole Tony winner was costume designer Ann Hould-Ward.
