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BIOGRAPHY:
Ann Mandrella was born in Besancon, France on the 3rd of August. Her family moved to Koblenz in Germany when Ann was a young child. After completing her secondary school education, Ann attended Folkwang Hochschule in Essen, Germany for three years. There, she obtained a degree in musical theatre performance. After she graduated, she moved to Vienna, Austria to pursue further studies in the performing arts at the Gesangsstudio Theater an der Wien. During her time in school, Ann supported herself through modeling work and by doing ballet/dance for local television shows.
Just before she completed her studies in Gesangsstudio, Ann was cast as Cha Cha in Grease (Vienna production), and she performed on the original cast album for the show. After her successful run in Grease, other roles would follow, including Babette in Beauty and the Beast, Anita in West Side Story, Roxie in Chicago, and Queenie in The Wild Party. She performed in several cities and countries throughout Europe, including Vienna (Austria), Stuttgart (Germany), Berlin (Germany), and Bern (Switzerland). Though she traveled often in order to perform, Ann's primary city of residence remained Vienna, where she maintains an apartment to this day.
During her time working in Europe, Ann met and married Drew Sarich, an American musical theatre actor and musician. In late 2005, Drew's career brought him to San Francisco. Ann, who was working on Show Boat in Switzerland, joined her husband in New York in February of 2006. In September of that year, Ann made her American stage debut in the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway revival of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. The year 2007 brought many opportunities to Ann in the US. She not only joined her husband onstage in two of his concerts, but she was also asked to perform in the popular concert series, At This Performance. Most notably, Ann made her Broadway debut in July 2007, reprising her role in Beauty and the Beast as Broadway's final Babette.
Ann returned to Vienna in the Fall of 2007, and she currently resides there with her husband, their two children, and their cat, Minou. She is scheduled to play the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Evita in the Fall/Winter of 2009-2010 in Dortmund, Germany.
