| Anneliese van der Pol | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Anneliese Louise van der Pol |
| Born | September 23, 1984 Naaldwijk, Netherlands[1] |
| Genres | Pop, pop rock, musical theatre |
| Occupations | Actress, singer, dancer |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Associated acts | Disney Channel Circle of Stars |
| Website | Official Facebook Official Twitter |
Anneliese Louise van der Pol (born September 23, 1984) is a Dutch-American actress and singer. After an early career in musical theatre, she was cast as Chelsea Daniels in the Disney Channel Original Series That's So Raven, a role that gained her renown among young audiences. Van der Pol also has a career as a singer and has recorded several songs for The Walt Disney Company. She made her Broadway debut in 2007, and appeared Off-Broadway in 2009. She has also acted in the 2010 vampire spoof film Vampires Suck directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer.
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Van der Pol was born in Naaldwijk, the Netherlands[2] 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 City. Van der Pol's mother named her after Anne Frank after visiting the house where Frank hid. Van der Pol has two older sisters, Rachel and Sarah. Van der Pol's family moved to her mother's native United States when she was three years old, and she retains dual citizenship between the Netherlands and the United States.
Van der Pol attended School in Bellflower, California where she began acting in third grade. She graduated from the theater program of the acclaimed Orange County High School of the Arts and later attended Bellflower High School. 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."[3] She played Eva Perón in the Buena Park Civic Theatre production of Evita in 1999 and received positive reviews from the Los Angeles Times.[4] At the age of fifteen, she is also the youngest actresses 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 an B. Iden Payne Nomination for "Best Featured Actress in a Musical".
In 2002, 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 2002 to 2007. 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.
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.
On July 10, 2006, van der Pol was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol. Officers said she was arrested after hitting a parked car and several other cars. According to court documents, van der Pol was driving with a 0.19 blood-alcohol level, more than twice California's legal limit of 0.08. In 2007, she pleaded "no contest" to the charges and received 36 months probation and a penalty of $2,844 in fines and assessments. She was also required to attend an alcohol education program.[5] Van der Pol's probation ended in March 2010.
In February 2007, it was announced van der Pol would be making her Broadway debut as Belle, in Beauty and the Beast.[6] Van der Pol was the musical's 17th (and final) Belle.[7] 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.[8] 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."[9]
In May 2008, it was revealed that van der Pol would play the role of Kathy in the new musical, Vanities, A New Musical.[10] She originated the role of Kathy during the musical's Broadway previews in Pasadena, California from August 22, 2008 to September 28, 2008.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13] On August 21, 2009, she started recording the Original Cast Album for the musical alongside Lauren Kennedy and Sarah Stiles.[14] The album was later released with Sh-k-Boom Records on December 15, 2009.[15]
As of July 2009, she stated she had received her fourth call-back for the role of Glinda in Wicked on Broadway.[16] 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.[17][18]
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.[19][20] 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.[21]
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.[22] 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.[23]
Van der Pol will appear in the upcoming thriller film, Cats Dancing on Jupiter, alongside Amanda Righetti and Jonathan Bennett.[24] Van der Pol will make her return to television as a guest star in NBC's upcoming television series, Friends with Benefits. Van der Pol also will 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.[25]
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.[26] The Scottish play started previews May 17, 2011 in San Diego.[27] 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.[28]
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 features songs and scenes from the films of Quentin Tarantino, including Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds, and runs from September 29 to November 12.[29]
| Year | Show | Role | Awards & Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Divorce: The Musical | Chelsey Weber | |
| 2005 | Horror High | Rachael Morrs | |
| 2007 | Bratz: The Movie | Avery | |
| 2010 | Vampires Suck | Jennifer | |
| 2011 | Wish Wizard[30] | Fairyista | |
| 2011 | Cats Dancing on Jupiter | Dayna |
| Year | Show | Role | Awards & Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–2006 | Express Yourself | Herself | |
| 2003–2007 | That's So Raven | Chelsea Daniels | Won - Young Artist Awards - "Outstanding Young Performers in a TV Series" |
| 2005 | Totally Suite New Year's Eve on Disney Channel | Herself | |
| 2006 | Kim Possible | Heather (voice) | |
| 2006 | The Disney Channel Games | Herself | |
| 2010–2011 | Shalom Sesame | Herself / Host | |
| 2011 | Friends with Benefits | Beth | |
| 2011 | Shake It Up | Ronnie | Episode: "Reunion It Up" |
| Year | Production | Role | Awards & Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | The Sleeping Beauty Ballet | Little Red Riding Hood | |
| 1991 | The Glory of Christmas | Soloist | |
| 1991 | The Sound of Music | Brigitta | |
| 1991 | The Will Rogers Follies | Mary Rogers | |
| 1996 | Eleanor, An American Love Story | Young Eleanor Roosevelt | |
| 1997 | Catch a Falling Star | Sheree | |
| 1998 | Murphy's Law | Kelly | |
| 1999 | Fiddler on the Roof | Chava | |
| 1999 | Grease | Sandy | Won - Bobbi Award - "Best Actress in a Musical" |
| 1999 | Beguiled Again | Principal | |
| 1999 | Evita | Eva "Evita" Peron | Youngest Actress in History to play role in professional production (15) |
| 2000 | Oklahoma! | Laurey | Nominated - B. Iden Payne Award - "Best Featured Actress in a Musical"
Nominated - Austin Critics Table Award - "Best Actress in a Musical" |
| 2002 | The Nutcracker | Clara | |
| 2002 | Copelia | Copelia | |
| 2007 | Beauty and the Beast | Belle | Broadway debut/Last Belle on Broadway |
| 2008 & 2009 | Vanities, A New Musical | Kathy | Won - StaceSceneLA.com Outstanding Achievement in 2008/9 - Outstanding Achievement by a Lead Actress (Musical) |
| 2009 | Meet Me in St. Louis | Esther Smith |
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Vanities, A New Musical (Kathy) (Off-Broadway) | Sh-K-Boom Records |
| Year | Song(s) | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "Winter Wonderland" (w/ Desi Arnaz Jr) & various tracks | The Children of Christmas | Jason Williams |
| 2003 | "Circle of Life" (w/ Disney Channel Circle of Stars) | Disneymania 2 | Walt Disney Records |
| 2004 | "That's So Raven" (w/ Raven-Symoné, Orlando Brown) | That's So Raven | Walt Disney Records |
| 2004 | "Over It" | Stuck in the Suburbs | Walt Disney Records |
| 2006 | "A Day in the Sun" "Friends" (w/ Raven-Symoné) "Let's Stick Together" (w/ Raven-Symoné, Kyle Massey) | That's So Raven Too! | Walt Disney Records |
| 2006 | "Candle on the Water" "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" (w/ Disney Channel Circle of Stars) | Disneymania 4 | Walt Disney Records |