Anneliese van der Pol

Anneliese Louise van der Pol (born September 23, 1984) is a Dutch-born actress based in the United States.

In 1999, Van der Pol played Sandy Dumbrowsky in the Huntington Beach Playhouse revival of Grease, which earned her a Bobbi Award for "Best Actress in a Musical."

She played Eva Perón in the Buena Park Civic Theatre production of Evita in 1999 and received positive reviews from the Los Angeles Times.

At the age of fifteen, she is also the youngest actress in theatrical history to play the role in a professional production.

Van der Pol subsequently starred as "Laurey" in an Austin, Texas, musical theatre production of Oklahoma! from 2000 to 2001.

Her performance earned her both an Austin Critics Table Award nomination for "Best Actress in a Musical" and a B. Iden Payne Nomination for "Best Featured Actress in a Musical".

Van der Pol graduated from the Orange County High School of the Arts in 2002.

She is best known for her portrayal of Chelsea Daniels on the Disney Channel series That's So Raven (2003–2007) and its spin-off Raven's Home (2017–present).

In association with Disney Channel, van der Pol has recorded several songs, including "Over It", which was featured on the Stuck in the Suburbs soundtrack.

Beyond her involvement with Disney Channel, van der Pol has had an extensive theater career, most notably appearing as Belle in the Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast.

Van der Pol was born in Naaldwijk, South Holland, to Willem van der Pol, who is Dutch and the director of the Physical Plant at the California State University in Fullerton, California, and Dyan Ross, an American from Brooklyn, New York.

Van der Pol's mother named her after Anne Frank after visiting the house where Frank hid (Van der Pol's mother is Jewish).

Anneliese has two older sisters, Rachel and Sarah.

Van der Pol's family moved to the United States when she was three years old, and she retains dual American and Dutch citizenship.

Van der Pol attended School in Bellflower, California, where she began acting in third grade at Washington Elementary School.

She attended Bellflower Middle School and High School, then transferred and subsequently graduated from the acclaimed Orange County High School of the Arts in Santa Ana, California.

From 2003 to 2007, van der Pol played Chelsea Daniels in the Disney Channel series That's So Raven. In 2006, she appeared on the first installment of the Disney Channel Games and had a guest starring role on Kim Possible in the episode "And the Mole-Rat Will Be CGI."

In 2004, van der Pol 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.

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 that Van der Pol would be making her Broadway debut as Belle, in Beauty and the Beast.

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.

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.

She originated the role of Kathy during the musical's Broadway previews in Pasadena, California from August 22, 2008, to September 28, 2008.

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.

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.

On August 21, 2009, she started recording the Original Cast Album for the musical alongside Lauren Kennedy and Sarah Stiles.

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.

Van der Pol appeared in a twelve part miniseries revival of Shalom Sesame (the Israeli version of Sesame Street).

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.

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.

The series premiered during the Hanukkah holiday in December 2010.

Van der Pol was the musical's 17th (and final) Belle.