Who was the best Belle?
Who was the best Belle?
farfrombway
Understudy Joined: 9/27/05
#0Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/27/05 at 11:38pmIMO. The best Belle ever was Kim Huber. She was perfect for the role. Her voice was incredibly beautiful and her acting heartfelt.
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#1re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/27/05 at 11:41pm
Belle Barth
Her comedy was as BLUE as Belle's Dress
get her albums!
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#2re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/27/05 at 11:42pm
Christy Romano. She had the most perfect pitch.
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Just kidding.
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
#3re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/27/05 at 11:47pmSusan Egan. Although, I don't think she ever got to sing "A Change in Me" while in the show, her rendition of it is the best!
dotmarie
Broadway Star Joined: 8/14/03
#4re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/27/05 at 11:50pm
<-----
(Susan Egan, just incase I ever change my avatar in the future.)
Urban
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/05
#5re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 12:02am
Susan and Kim are equally as great in my opinion.
As to worst, I'd say Rachael Beck from the Original Australian Production and Cast Recording. She tried but her voice was just weak.
nycbelle4
Swing Joined: 9/23/05
#6re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 12:06am
Susan Egan, hands down. She played the role in a way that no one else ever will. I have seen (and still see) a lot of Belle's and there are certain lines and songs that just don't meant the same as when Susan did them.
And her "A Change in Me" rox the world!
#7re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 12:10am
I am gonna go out on a limb and say my FAVORITE Belle was Ann Sanders (the "Asian Belle"). I just loved how she played the role. And a great voice, too.
Susan Egan was also wonderful.
I just saw Ashley Brown, and she knocks "A Change in Me" out of the park. The best vocal rendition of that song I've ever heard. She's an amazing Belle as well. Good head voice, and a great belt.
farfrombway
Understudy Joined: 9/27/05
#8re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 12:13amSusan's voice has a certain something that I love! She is number two on my list. Did anyone see Danyelle Bossardet in the national tour?
dotmarie
Broadway Star Joined: 8/14/03
#9re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 12:18amI saw Danyelle! It was a few years ago, so I don't remember much... but I do remember that she was great!
#10re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 12:20amSusan definitely. She adds a special character to Belle that really defines her strength to me. I just love her!
The key to the mystery of a great artist is that for reasons unknown, he will give away his energies and his life just to make sure that one note follows another... and leaves us with the feeling that something is right in the world.
~Leonard Bernstein~
Featured Actor Joined: 12/31/69
#11re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 12:22am
Urban - I heard the Austrailian version of B & B for Hugh Jackman as Gaston... and I was really disappointed in the person who played Belle. I did not think she was good enough to be in the likes of Hugh 
haha, but she was NOT a good Belle.
I'm guessing that Megan McGinnis was a good Belle, but unfortunately I didn't get to see her as Belle.
#12re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 12:30amKor- I so agree about the Australian Belle...I can hardly listen to Hugh without being distracted by her...and that's a shame because Hugh is adorable and the reason i bought the cd...
The key to the mystery of a great artist is that for reasons unknown, he will give away his energies and his life just to make sure that one note follows another... and leaves us with the feeling that something is right in the world.
~Leonard Bernstein~
Urban
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/05
#14re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 2:53am
I saw Kerry Butler. Don't remember if she was good or not, haha.
Christy Carlson Romano definitely isn't the best Belle, though.
I haven't heard anyone sing it better than Susan, though, based on the cast recording.
~Steven
ElphieZ
Featured Actor Joined: 11/3/04
#15re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 3:16amSarah Uriarte Berry. She replaced Susan Egan. I loved Susan in the role, but her voice is a bit lower. Sarah's was lighter and more "Belle" to me. I liked both though.
clarky
Stand-by Joined: 4/25/04
#16re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 3:24am
IMO the best Belle worldwide is Leah Delos Santos, the Asian Belle in the German Production
Her voice is gorgeous!
Here is a clip of her rendition of Home: http://leahdelossantos.com/multimedia.htm#
stage_door76
Broadway Star Joined: 1/18/05
#17re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 3:41am
in defence of rachel beck, she was SO young when she played belle. in fact i did hear a rumour that she was the youngest professional belle in history, but that may have been (and probably was) all made up.
BUT, i saw her in the role and the recording is such a bad representation of her talent. she had never done any musical theater before and had just come off a long running australian sitcom.
since then, she's become somewhat of a darling of aussie theater. she was kathy seldon in singin' in the rain, fantine in les mis and sally bowles in cabaret just to name a few, all with rave reviews.
but, i have heard the cd, and her "...here's where she MEETS princ charming..." is quite terrible.
best belle is definitely susan. the worst is kerry butler.
"...But Kungurtseva reels off multiple fouettes and the tape is stopped so she can take a bow. The Jester, an abomination introduced to Swan Lake in Soviet times, extorts applause from the audience. The cuts don't help the storytelling, the production is bare bones and they go for the '50s-style happy ending.
The audience cheers like mad at the end. It's the Russian ballet, after all..."
Urban
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/27/05
#18re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 4:56am
Rachael Beck is from my dad's hometown (which is something considering it is a small dot on the map in far north New South Wales) so I have always followed her career somewhat because of that).
She was born in 1971 according to IMDb so she would've been 24 at the start of BatB.
#19re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 9:20amMy fav is Deborah Gibson...she really embodied Belle's spirit the best out of the 4 Belles I've seen. Plus, she's by far the nicest stage door hanger-outer.
"You act like you're cleaner than the Board of Heath, but you're just a fame ho just like me. You know it...and you LOVE it!"
-Paradice to Brooklyn
mikewood
Broadway Star Joined: 4/7/05
#20re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 9:43am
It's tough to comment on this not having seen Egan or Berry, but I haven't been blessed with my Broadway belles: Toni Braxton, Andrea MacArdle and Carlson.
The best one I probably saw was The Boston show back in 2002, but I don't recall the actress' name. Don't be too hard on me it was a week after a family funeral....
BLAH BLAH BLAH
mikewood
Broadway Star Joined: 4/7/05
#21re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 9:43am
It's tough to comment on this not having seen Egan or Berry, but I haven't been blessed with my Broadway belles: Toni Braxton, Andrea MacArdle and Carlson.
The best one I probably saw was The Boston show back in 2002, but I don't recall the actress' name. Don't be too hard on me it was a week after a family funeral....
BLAH BLAH BLAH
farfrombway
Understudy Joined: 9/27/05
#22re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 11:13am
Argh! I hate living in California! I missed a lot of wonderful Belle's! I would of loved to have seen Kerry Butler in Beauty!
Danyelle was the nicest at the stage door. One of the nicest people I have ever met in fact!
#23re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 11:14ami only saw Susan Owen on the tour back in 2000... and she wasn't that bad... but i have no one else to compare her to!
::bust a move::
farfrombway
Understudy Joined: 9/27/05
#24re: Who was the best Belle?
Posted: 9/28/05 at 11:28amI almost got to see Susan Owen in SF. The understudy was on that day! I was very dissapointed! I had been waiting to see the show for months and months. I was even suppossed to meet her after the show!! It took everything I had not to fall apart in the middle of the theatre!
