Brown, according to a spokesperson for the Disney/Cameron Mackintosh production, will head the cast of the national tour of Mary Poppins, which is scheduled to kick off March 25, 2009, at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre. The musical based on both the original stories by P. L. Travers and the beloved Walt Disney film has also been announced for St. Louis' Fox Theatre, Aug. 13-30, 2009.

No other tour casting has been announced.

Prior to Mary Poppins, Ashley Brown played Belle in the Broadway company of Beauty and the Beast and was also part of the cast of the tour of Disney's On the Record. Brown received her BFA in musical theatre from Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. She has appeared in productions of Candide, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Violet, Sweeney Todd, Meet Me in St. Louis, Guys and Dolls, Side by Side by Sondheim and Crazy for You. Brown is also the recipient of the Laurie Beechman Award.

	Ashley Brown in Broadway's Mary Poppins
	photo by Joan Marcus

Richard Eyre directs Mary Poppins, which features choreography and co-direction by Matthew Bourne and boasts original songs from the film — with music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman — as well as new songs and additional music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Julian Fellowes wrote the book. The musical also features set and costume design by Bob Crowley, co-choreography by Stephen Mear, lighting design by Howard Harrison, sound design by Andrew Bruce and Steve C. Kennedy, orchestrations by William David Brohn, musical direction by Brad Haak and musical supervision by David Caddick.

Mary Poppins continues to play Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre.

For more information visit www.marypoppins.com.