Anna Francolini

Biography

Anna Francolini (born 30 October 1973) is an English actress. Francolini was born in Chertsey, Surrey, attended Bristol Grammar School and studied theatre at the University of Warwick. She also trained as a member of the National Youth Theatre. After appearances in Godspell and Oliver during the early part of her career, Francolini appeared in two acclaimed musical productions at the Donmar Warehouse – Company (1995) and Merrily We Roll Along (2000), both by Stephen Sondheim. She also played the Baker's Wife in the Royal Opera House production of Sondheim's Into the Woods in 2007. She won the 2009 TMA Award for Best Performance in a Play with her portrayal of Jean Brodie in Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, which was staged at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton. During the period from December 1997 to December 2004 Anna Francolini was a mainstay of London's tiny but influential Bridewell Theatre during the latter part of its decade as a professional venue. In December 1997 to January 1998 she played lead role Helen in the historic fully staged premiere of Stephen Sondheim's Saturday Night. This was to be followed in 1999 by Floyd Collins and later on during 2000-1 Anna appeared in revue shows created from the work of Jason Robert Brown, Adam Guettel and John La Chiusa, one of which, The Cutting Edge transferred to the Donmar Warehouse in 2002.