Susan Farrell Egan (born February 18, 1970) is an American actress, singer and dancer, known for her work on the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

stage. She is best known for originating the role of Belle in the Broadway musical adaptation of ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...

'' (1994), as well as for providing the voices of

Megara Megara (; el, Μέγαρα, ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, befo ...

"Meg" 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), Madame Gina in ''

Porco Rosso is a 1992 Anime, Japanese animated Adventure film, adventure-fantasy film, fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is based on ''Hikōtei Jidai'' ("The Age of the Flying Boat"), a three-part 1989 watercolor manga by Miyazaki. It ...

'' (2005),

Rose Quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

on ''

Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American animated series, 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 li ...

'', and Lin in ''

Spirited Away is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Tohokushinsha Film, and Mitsubishi and distrib ...

''.

Early life

Egan was born in

Seal Beach, California Seal Beach is a coastal city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,242, up from 24,168 at the 2010 census. Seal Beach is located in the westernmost corner of Orange County. To the northwest ...

on February 18, 1970. She attended

Los Alamitos High School Los Alamitos High School (also known as Los Al) is a public school for grades 9 to 12 located in Los Alamitos, California, and also serving the city of Seal Beach and the community of Rossmoor. It is the only traditional high school in the Los ...

and the co-located

Orange County High School of the Arts Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA, ), is a 7th–12th grade public charter school located in downtown Santa Ana, California. The school caters to middle and high school students with talents in the performing, visual, literary arts, cul ...

and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. She is also a credited alumna of the Young Americans College.

Career

Stage and other work

Having long desired to become a performer, Egan spent most of her time taking dancing, concentrating on ballet, and singing lessons as a child, and trained as a competitive

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

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 touring with the performance group

the Young Americans The Young Americans is a non-profit organization and performing group based in Southern California. First founded in 1962 by Milton C. Anderson, the group was credited with being the first show choir in America, mixing choreography with choral ...

. While attending UCLA, Egan took time off when

Tommy Tune Thomas James Tune (born February 28, 1939) is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won ten Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, and a star on the Hollywood Wal ...

cast her as Kim in his touring production of ''

Bye Bye Birdie ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is a stage musical with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams, based upon a book by Michael Stewart. Originally titled ''Let's Go Steady'', ''Bye Bye Birdie'' is set in 1958. The short story "Dream Man", authored ...

''. After the tour ended, she was cast in the tour of ''

State Fair A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in th ...

'' and won the coveted role of Belle in the original

cast of ''

'', for which she was nominated for the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

and the

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

, 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. At the Sacramento Music Circus, she portrayed Maria in ''

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''. Se ...

'' in 1996 and Molly Brown in '' The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' in 2002. Egan joined ''

Thoroughly Modern Millie ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' is a 1967 American musical- romantic comedy film directed by George Roy Hill and starring Julie Andrews. The screenplay, by Richard Morris based on the 1956 British musical ''Chrysanthemum'', follows a naïve you ...

'' in February 2004 as Millie. Egan has performed in one-woman, cabaret-style concerts at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in 2000 and at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in October 2001. In August 2001, Egan appeared at the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

in the concert version of ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...

'' as Julie. She sings with symphonies, as well; she performed in concert at the

Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Ave ...

with the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles in November 2004. From 2002 to 2003, she was the interim artistic director of the Orange County High School of the Arts. On June 6, 2016, Egan appeared alongside

Brad Kane Bradley Caleb Kane (born September 29, 1973) is an American actor, singer, producer and screenwriter. Career Kane began to act with a small role in the movie ''Six Weeks''. At the age of eight, he obtained the role of one of the four chorus bo ...

at the Hollywood Bowl as opening acts for Disney's "The Little Mermaid Live" show. Egan performed a medley of songs from ''Beauty and the Beast''. The June 6 performance also included the original ''

Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...

'' voice actress

Jodi Benson Jodi Marie Benson (née Marzorati; born October 10, 1961) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for providing the voice of Ariel in Disney's 1989 animated film ''The Little Mermaid'' and throughout other films, including its seque ...

performing with the rest of the "Live" cast. From July 20–29, 2018, Egan reprised the role of Belle in the 5-Star Theatre's production of ''Beauty and the Beast'' at the

Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza The Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza is a performing arts center and city hall for the city of Thousand Oaks, California. Across Thousand Oaks Boulevard from Gardens of the World, the site is considered the downtown core of the city. City hall incl ...

Television

On television, Egan is known for her co-starring role as

Nikki Cox Nicole Avery Cox (born June 2, 1978) is an American actress known mostly for her roles on the television series ''Unhappily Ever After'', ''Las Vegas'', ''The Norm Show'', and ''Nikki''. Career Cox began her career at the age of four, when s ...

's best friend in ''

Nikki Nikki may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Nikki (Barbie), a fashion doll in the Barbie toy line * Nikki (comics), a Marvel Comics character * Nikki and Paulo, from the TV series ''Lost'' * Nikki, the mascot of Swapnote * N ...

''.

Voice acting

Egan's voice has been featured in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

versions of two feature films by

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

, ''

'' and ''

''. She is most widely known for voicing

in the 1997 film ''

'' and reprised her role in both ''

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 Hearts (video game), King ...

'' and ''

Kingdom Hearts III is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. It is the twelfth installment in the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series, and serves as a conclusion of the ...

''. Egan provided Angel'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, Nina (born February 6, 2007) and Isla (born December 15, 2009). She currently resides in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

Filmography

Broadway and stage

Source: ''Internet Broadway Database'' * ''

'' (1992, U.S. Tour as Kim MacAfee) * ''

'' (1992, tour; 1996, replacement Margie) * ''

'' (1994, Belle) * ''

'' (1996, Maria) * '' Triumph of Love'' (1997, Princess Léonide) * ''

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

'' (1998 revival) (various, 1999, 2000, 2003,

Sally Bowles Sally Bowles () is a fictional character created by English-American novelist Christopher Isherwood and based upon 19-year-old cabaret singer Jean Ross. The character debuted in Isherwood's 1937 novella ''Sally Bowles'' published by Hogarth Press ...

) * ''

Putting It Together ''Putting it Together'' is a musical revue showcasing the songs of Stephen Sondheim. Drawing its title from a song in '' Sunday in the Park with George'', it was devised by Sondheim and Julia McKenzie. The revue has received several productions ...

'' (1999, The Mark Taper Forum, California) * '' The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' (2002, "Molly Brown", Sacramento Music Circus) * ''

'' (2004, replacement Millie Dillmount)

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

* * *
More Than Just a Beauty—Show Music Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Egan, Susan 1970 births Living people American women singers American female dancers American dancers American women comedians American voice actresses American film actresses American television actresses American stage actresses American video game actresses American musical theatre actresses 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