Susan Farrell Egan (born February 18, 1970) is an American actress, singer and dancer, known for her work on the Broadway stage. She is best known for originating the role of Belle in the Broadway musical adaptation of '' Beauty and the Beast'' (1994), for providing the voices of Megara in ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'' (1997) and Rose Quartz in ''

Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe (character), Steven Universe (Zach Callison), who lives with the Crys ...

'', and for voicing the English dubs of Madame Gina in ''

Porco Rosso is a 1992 Japanese Anime, animated Adventure film, adventure fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, based on his 1989 manga ''Hikōtei Jidai''. The film stars the voices of Shūichirō Moriyama, Tokiko Kato, Akemi Okamura and Akio ...

'' and Lin in '' Spirited Away''.

Early life

Susan Egan was born in Seal Beach, California on February 18, 1970. She attended Los Alamitos High School and the co-located Orange County High School of the Arts and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

Career

Stage and other work

Egan spent much of her time as a child taking dance, concentrating on

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, and trained as a figure skater from ages five to ten. While attending Los Alamitos High School, the Orange County High School of the Arts, and UCLA, she started her career with local community theaters and civic light operas. While attending UCLA, Egan took time off when Tommy Tune cast her as Kim MacAfee in his touring production of '' Bye Bye Birdie''. After the tour ended, she was cast in the tour of '' State Fair'' and soon after won the coveted role of Belle in the original Broadway cast of '' Beauty and the Beast'' in 1994, for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical at the 48th Tony Awards and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. On Broadway, Egan portrayed Belle for one year and reprised the role in the Los Angeles production in 1995, along with many of the original Broadway cast members. She also starred as the leading roles in ''State Fair'', ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

'', '' Triumph of Love'', and '' Thoroughly Modern Millie''. Egan has performed in one-woman,

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

-style concerts at venues across the US, including the Orange County Performing Arts Center and at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. Egan has headlined with more than 60 symphonies and has appeared at the Hollywood Bowl five times, including on June 6, 2016, when Egan appeared alongside Brad Kane as opening acts for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's ''The Little Mermaid Live'' show. Egan currently produces live stage productions with two companies she manages: Broadway Princess Party, LLC and 10th & Main Productions. Many shows she produces are in partnership with Disney Concerts, and include such titles as ''Disney Princess - The Concert'' and ''Walt Disney Animation Studios: The Concert.''

Television

On television, Egan is known for her co-starring role as Nikki White ( Nikki Cox)'s best friend Mary Campbell in '' Nikki''.

Voice acting

Egan's voice has been featured in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

versions of two feature films by

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...

, '' Spirited Away'' and ''

''. She is most widely known for voicing Megara in the 1997 film ''

'' and reprised her role in the 1998 TV series of the same name in two episodes and in both ''

Kingdom Hearts II ''Kingdom Hearts II'' is a 2005 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix in collaboration with Disney Interactive Studios, Buena Vista Games for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The game is a sequel to ''Kingdom Hear ...

'' and ''

Kingdom Hearts III is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, and Nintendo Switch. It is the third main installment in the '' Kingdom Hearts'' series and the twelfth game overall, and ser ...

''. Egan provided Angel ( Alyssa Milano)'s singing voice in '' Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure'' and the voice acting for Rose Quartz on the Cartoon Network animated series ''

'' along with various other characters.

Personal life

Egan is married to Robert Hartmann and has two daughters. She currently resides in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Filmography

Broadway and stage

Source: ''Internet Broadway Database'' * '' Bye Bye Birdie'' (1992, U.S. Tour as Kim MacAfee) * '' State Fair'' (1992, tour; 1996, replacement Margy Frake) * '' Beauty and the Beast'' (1994, Belle) * ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'' (1996, Maria Rainer) * '' Triumph of Love'' (1997, Princess Léonide) * '' South Pacific'' (1998, Nellie Forbush, Sacramento Music Circus) * ''

'' (1998 revival) (various, 1999, 2000, 2003, Sally Bowles) * '' Putting It Together'' (1999, Mark Taper Forum, California) * '' The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' (2002, Molly Brown, Sacramento Music Circus) * '' Amy's View'' (2002, Amy Thomas, International City Theatre), * '' Thoroughly Modern Millie'' (2004, replacement Millie Dillmount) * ''Chess'' (2007, Concert as Svetlana Sergievsky)

Discography

Source: * 2002: ''So Far...'' * 2004: ''Coffee House'' * 2005: ''All That & More'' * 2006: ''Winter Tracks'' * 2007: ''Susan Egan Live!'' * 2011: ''Secret of Happiness'' (includes "Nina Doesn't Care" video, Brian Haner music video, filmed in 2011) * 2015: ''Softly''

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Egan, Susan 1970 births Living people American women singers American female dancers American women comedians American voice actresses American film actresses American television actresses American stage actresses American video game actresses American musical theatre actresses Disney people People from Seal Beach, California Actresses from California UCLA Film School alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Orange County School of the Arts alumni Comedians from California 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians The Young Americans members Los Alamitos High School alumni