Brittain Ashford

Brittain Ashford is an American actress and musician best known for portraying Sonya Rostova in the 2016 Broadway musical Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, as well as fronting the band Prairie Empire. 2Background Born in Seattle, Washington, Ashford attended Roosevelt High School. She attended college at the University of Washington, Seattle. 2Career 3Theatre Ashford's first theatrical performance was as Sonya Rostova in the 2012 Ars Nova production of close friend Dave Malloy's Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. Ashford continued to perform with the show in all future incarnations of it, including productions at Kazino, the American Repertory Theater, and at the Imperial Theatre, the latter of which marked her Broadway debut in 2016. Of her role, Ashford says, "I sympathize with Sonya, and I really love that she’s there as this best friend presence that could be nothing, but she also gets this really tender, intimate, important moment in the show to talk about that friendship, which I think is just so nice and kind of refreshing." Ashford received praise for her performance as Sonya, and was nominated for multiple awards over the course of the shows multiple runs. Ashford was temporarily replaced as Sonya by singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson, but she returned as Sonya on August 15, 2017.Ben Brantley of the New York Times stated in his article "The Tonys 2017: Who Will Win (and Who Should)" that Ashford "should have been nominated" for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Ashford also performed in Dave Malloy's song-cycle Ghost Quartet. Ashford provided vocals for the show, as well as autoharp, keyboard, and percussion. She was praised for her performance as part of the quartet, with the Litro saying she "sounds like she’s singing from the bottom of a sea of honey; her voice is at once lovely and perfectly eerie." Ashford stayed with the show while it performed at various venues across the US, including the American Repertory Theatrein Bosto