Hello. I'm Ashley Wool. I'm an actress and singer, chiefly of the musical theatre variety.

 

Most people probably know me best from originating the role of Jessica in a brilliant and beautiful Broadway musical called How to Dance in Ohio, and being one of the first openly autistic actors to play a canonically autistic character on Broadway.

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From a professional standpoint, I got to check a lot of glamorous items off my bucket list: performing in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, writing op-eds about the transformative power of a performing arts education for autistic people, being a principal performer on an original Broadway cast recording, and becoming friends with many of the people whose voices were on the cast recordings I grew up with.​

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But truly, the ultimate career highlight is being the positive representation I wish I'd had growing up autistic. Undiagnosed until the age of 20, and deep in the disclosure closet for another decade, I never imagined that one day I would have dozens of young children eager to meet me and say "I'm autistic too!" Dozens of adults who were inspired to talk more openly about their own neurodivergence--or to finally seek out a diagnosis that they had been secretly suspecting for years but were afraid to pursue--because our show made them feel seen and celebrated. Dozens of educators who were inspired to seek out autistic perspectives on how to better include and support their neurodiverse students.

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Behind the scenes, I was part of a life-giving work environment maintained by a diverse group of creators whose talent, intellect, humor, and compassion represent the best of what humanity is capable of. Our time on Broadway was far shorter than any of us had hoped, but once you have an experience like that, you have no choice but to dedicate your life to creating more of those experiences for as many people as possible. That's what I'm here to do.

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By the way--I'm told that this bio should describe my "brand" as a performer.​ In 2018, I performed in a showcase for some Industry People™ who were asked that question, and one of them wrote, "Unsure; can't tell if you're a man-eater or a comedienne." I think this is what Walt Whitman (who shares my birthday, by the way) meant when he wrote, "I contain multitudes."​