Brooke Tansley
Currently: Playing Belle, the plucky heroine at the center of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
Hometown: Waterbury, Connecticut. Tansley, who trained as a dancer, knew she wanted to be in the performing arts at a young age. She was only 11 when she made her professional acting debut in a dinner theater mounting of Annie and at the age of 15 founded a children's theater company with her parents.
I Know Where I've Been: Tansley made her Broadway debut serving as a swing in the original company of Hairspray. While she raves about how phenomenal the Hairspray company was, she did have a bit of trouble with at least one cast member during the show's Seattle tryout. "We had rehearsed all day and, by the time the night came, it had all fallen apart," Tansley explains. "So we had a note session and I raised my hand and said, 'It all fell apart because too many people were not paying attention. I don't know what is going on maybe, but I come from the dance world and in ballet we don't speak until we're spoken to.' So Harvey [Fierstein] said: 'You obviously have no understanding of the energy it takes to put together a musical comedy. Maybe you should flap your wings and go back to Swan Lake.' But Harvey and I are friends now and have been for a while!"
Be Our Guest: While the Hairspray experience was great for Tansley she was promoted from swing to understudy and then had a two-month run in the featured role of Penny Pingleton, starring in Beauty and the Beast is really her dream come true. "Belle has always been my favorite of the Disney heroines. And I have always been a Disney kid. My brother and I, when we were little, filled out 3,000 contest entries and won a trip to Disney World for the family. Then we wanted to go back. He and I would go around the neighborhood and collect cans and redeem them. We saved up enough money for another trip to Disney World."
Home: Tansley was in Connecticut with her family when she got the call saying she landed the role of Belle. "We thought I would find out on either Friday or Monday. So on Friday [my mother] had on her Belle colors: her yellow top and her blue jumper with her Belle pin. At the end of the day she was like, 'We didn't find out today. This is going in the laundry because I've got to wear this again on Monday.' She put back on the outfit on Monday and shortly after 10 o'clock, I found out." After the offer was made, it was Tansley's father who sprung into action. "My dad has a touch of Papa Rose. So right away, after out initial freak out, he was on the phone. He called everybody, including the newspaper."
Kim Possible: The Belle before Tansley was Christy Carlson Romano, well known to Disney Television viewers. Although it seems she would be a hard act to follow, Tansley says Romano went out of her way to make the transition anything but impossible. "Christy and I, we're both Italians from Connecticut, so, you know, it is something in the blood," Tansley laughs. "She has been incredible. I went to her house and we sat down and just talked about the character. She said: 'You know, I didn't know how I would feel with a new person coming in. But I really like you and I feel like I am Miss America handing over the crown.'"
More Than The Provincial Life: While the people at the Lunt-Fontanne have taken to calling Tansley "Smiley," she actually spent a good amount of her rehearsal time in tears. "I looked at myself in my yellow dress for the first time and I started crying. I thought, 'Oh my god--I am a Disney princess!' I've been emotional like that every day. Everyone is so wonderful both onstage and off and everyone gives 110% every night. And I think all of the excitement I have for what I am doing can't help but come with me onto the stage. The most wonderful thing about being the star of the show is you can be as happy as you want to be and it kind of infects other people around you."