Anneliese van der Pol

right|300px Anneliese Louise van der Pol (born September 23, 1984) is a Dutch-American actress and singer.
==Acting==
In late 2001, she was cast as Chelsea Daniels, the best friend of the title character on the Disney Channel's That's So Raven, a role which she portrayed from 2001 to 2006. Just as the first season of "That's So Raven" began, she went back to Austin Musical Theatre to perform in "Celebrate: AMT," a performance highlighting all the shows the company had done up to then. She was a featured soloist. Van der Pol also appeared on the Disney Channel Games as a member of the Red Team; her teammates were Zac Efron, Kay Panabaker, Dylan Sprouse, Shin Koyamada, and Moises Arias. She was originally offered the role of Kim Possible but chose not to take the part. Anneliese also had a supporting role in Bratz: The Movie as Avery, a mean popular girl and best friend to the main antagonist.
In February 2007, it was announced van der Pol would be making her Broadway debut as Belle, in Beauty and the Beast.[9] Van der Pol was the musical's 17th (and final) Belle.[10] She played the role from April 3, 2007 to July 29, 2007 as the show reached its 5,464th (and final) performance. During her run as Belle, van der Pol also performed at Bryant Park's Broadway in Bryant Park on July 12, 2007 along Beauty and the Beast co-stars Chris Hoch and Jeanne Lehmann, performing songs from the show.[11] Prior to Beauty's final show, van der Pol appeared on Live with Regis and Kelly for a small interview discussing her Broadway debut and experiences with the show. She also discussed the origins of her name, and performed Beauty 's "A Change in Me."
In May 2008, it was revealed that van der Pol would play the role of Kathy in the new musical, Vanities, A New Musical.[13] She originated the role of Kathy during the musical's Broadway previews in Pasadena, California from August 22, 2008 to September 28, 2008.[14] Originally, the musical was scheduled to begin performances on Broadway February 2, 2009 at the Lyceum Theatre with an official opening on February 26, 2009 but the show's Broadway run was postponed due to the economic turmoil in the US and to focus on the future of the musical.[15] The show then made its New York City debut Off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theatre on July 2, 2009 in previews, and officially opened on July 16, 2009. Performances continued through August 9, 2009.[16] On August 21, 2009, she started recording the Original Cast Album for the musical alongside Lauren Kennedy and Sarah Stiles.[17] The album was later released with Sh-k-Boom Records on December 15, 2009.
As of July 2009, she stated she had received her fourth call-back for the role of Glinda in Wicked on Broadway.[19] Van der Pol is stated to appear in a twelve part Jewish version of Sesame Street called Shalom Sesame. The series is scheduled to debut during the Hanukkah holiday in December 2010. In September 2009, van der Pol starred as Esther Smith in the Theatre Under The Stars production of Meet Me in St. Louis that had a limited run from September 29 to October 11, 2009.[22][23] In December 2009, van der Pol made a guest appearance on The Battery's Down, as Rhonda Busby Smith. The episode premiered on December 1, 2009 on YouTube, where the web-series ran for two seasons.
Van der Pol starred in Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer's spoof film, Vampires Suck, based on the Twilight series. Van der Pol plays the role of Jennifer, Becca's new best friend.[25] The film's trailer exclusively premiered on Break.com on July 7, 2010 featuring Anneliese's character introducing the cast of Jersey Shore. To promote the film, van der Pol made appearances during New York Comic Con weekend for meet-and-greets with fans and to join a live discussion panel for Vampires Suck, along with co-star Matt Lanter.[26] She also participated in a fashion pictorial tribute to teen films for Zooey Magazine. The pictorial was shot by David Nguyen and paid tribute to Pretty Woman, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, 10 Things I Hate About You, The Princess Diaries, & Legally Blonde.
Van der Pol will appear in the upcoming thriller film, Cats Dancing on Jupiter, alongside Amanda Righetti and Jonathan Bennett.[28] Van der Pol returned to television as a guest star in NBC's television series, Friends with Benefits. Van der Pol also a return to the Disney Channel in a guest starring role on Shake It Up, as Ronnie, a former dancer of Shake It Up Chicago!. The episode, "Reunion It Up!" premiered on April 10, 2011. Van der Pol had been cast as "Fiona MacLeod" in Arthur Kopit and Anton Dudley's "A Dram of Drummhicit", a Scottish play presented by La Jolla Playhouse.[30] The Scottish play started previews May 17, 2011 in San Diego.[31] On April 24, van der Pol announced that she would not be continuing with the production, due to artistic differences between herself and the play's director.
In September 2011, van der Pol was cast to perform in For the Record: Tarantino in Concert, conceived and directed by Shane Scheel and Christopher Lloyd Bratten. The show featured songs and scenes from the films of Quentin Tarantino, including Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds, and ran from September 29 to November 12.[33] Van der Pol continued to be part of the 'For the Record' series throughout 2012 with For the Record: John Hughes, For the Record: Baz Luhrmann and again in For the Record: Tarantino in Concert.[34][35] She went on to record the production's first cast recording, For the Record: Tarantino which was released through LML Music on November 13, 2012.
From April to May 2012, she starred as Marian Almond in the Pasadena Playhouse production of The Heiress. She played the lead role in the Arizona Theatre Company's production of the new musical, Emma, which will run from December 1, 2012 to January 20, 2013.
==Music==
As That's So Raven's popularity rose, Disney showcased van der Pol's musical talents by signing her for several music compilations. In 2004, she recorded the song "Over It" for the Disney Channel Original Movie Stuck in the Suburbs which became the soundtrack's lead single. Her second solo recording, called "A Day in the Sun," a cover originally sung by Hilary Duff, appeared on the album That's So Raven Too!. Van der Pol has been associated with several other Disney music projects, including the Elton John song "Circle of Life" for a special edition of The Lion King DVD, "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" for the Cinderella: Special Edition DVD, and "Candle on the Water" from Pete's Dragon on DisneyMania 4.