Over the years, Disney fans have gotten to know Susan Egan well. Since originating the role of Belle in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and voicing Megaera in Hercules, Egan continued her work with Disney — appearing at multiple D23 Expos and events, serving as a core member of the Disney Princess Concert tour, and more. Now, Egan is one of many Disney favorites who will take the stage at the iconic Hollywood Bowl to celebrate two decades that Millennials and Gen Xers remember well: the 80s and 90s.
Recently, we had a chance to chat with Egan about the Disney ’80s-’90s Celebration in Concert, her friendship with fellow princess Jodi Benson, and more.
Laughing Place: Hi, how are you?
Susan Egan: I'm great. How are you doing?
LP: I'm fantastic. Thanks for taking the time out to chat.
SE: Oh, thank you for covering the show. This is going to be a really fun one.
LP: I'm really excited to see it. I know last year you celebrated 100 years of Disney animation, but are you excited to return back to the big stage for the Hollywood Bowl?
SE: Yes. I mean, I think 100 is thrilling. And I mean, my goodness, 100 years, what a thing to document. And it was certainly fun putting that show together. But of course there was a lot of things we couldn't do because it's only a two-hour show.
I think what's exciting about this is the timing of it: 80s and 90s. 80s and 90s is having such a resurgence, and we only got to dabble in it briefly last year because we had so many other things to cover with Disney music. But of course, the performers in the audience, these are their decades. Whether they're my age and they were making movies during these decades, or whether they were the children seeing those movies that are now grown up millennials reliving their VHS tape glory days. There's something about these decades that really speaks to them, of course, including the fact that this is the Disney renaissance. This is when the Walt Disney Company and animation turned a corner and everything just had new life.
LP: You are absolutely right. I mean, outside of perhaps the second age after Walt passed, that really put a stamp on Disney as a broader cultural influence, right?
SE: Yes. I just recently watched Waking Sleeping Beauty again, and it's so interesting to see what was happening behind the scenes even while I was working for the company. I was doing Beauty in the Beast on Broadway, I did Hercules, but I was just a young actor grateful for a job. I didn't really understand the struggle that had taken place just prior. Like, prior to Eisner and Katzenberg coming in, they were really considering chopping Disney up and selling it for parts. And the fact that sort of the animation department was like second class citizens — and then that, of course, ended up being what absolutely breathed new life into the company. Of course, Little Mermaid changed everything.
LP: And speaking of Little Mermaid, fresh off of her star turn as Dolly Levi in Orlando, you have Jodi Benson participating in this concert.
SE: I do. So part of the fun of producing these things is that I get to call up my friends and say, "Hey, we don't have much money, but will you come play with us?" She's like, "For sure." Jodi and I have known each other, I don't even know how long. Before I did Hercules, because when I got cast in Hercules, she was giving me advice. We're Broadway babies. Way back in the day, she was doing Crazy For You, I was touring with Bye Bye Birdie, so this is even before Beauty and the Beast. And Jodi, full circle, Jodi's the one who got me into doing concerts, like taking the leap from musical theater where you're playing a character to really just wearing a gown and being yourself, which was not my intention in this career. I wanted to be other people. But she was pregnant with McKinley and Delaney over a period of five or six years and had to take some rest and had these concert dates, and she recommended me.
So I filled in for her and really learned what it is to sing with symphony orchestras. This is longer ago than I care to admit. And then when I went to have my baby, she's like, "Yes, that's what concerts are so great for." You can't do eight shows a week as Millie or Sally Bowles when you're pregnant, but you can do concerts with the Boston Pops. And she got me into this whole thing. And so we're constantly training back and forth and holding hands and going, "Hey, I'm doing this. Want to come with?" Including at Comic-Cons. We're always joyful. We're like, "Oh, we're both going to be in the same Comic-Con." So then we go get cocktails and pizza and chat and gossip, and then do our thing. I love Jodi, and I'm so excited for her to be here.
LP: And perhaps not a Broadway baby, but a hallmark of 80s and 90s Disney: Bill Farmer.
SE: I know. So, we just produced a show called Disney Hits on the Disney Cruise Line for the Disney Vacation Club Member Cruise, and we were on the show. Now, I've met Bill a million times because we do animation panels at D23. I've seen them at Comic-Con. It's a little Disney family, we all know each other, but on the ship they were premiering, it's still being edited, but they screened a movie called Not Just a Goof, about the making of A Goofy Movie with the filmmakers who were adorable.
And Bill was there and he introduced it, and then he got up on stage and he sang a song. And here's the thing. First of all, he's a voice-over genius, and we all know that. He's also the most lovely human being ever, and that's always been true. But as a singer, watching him sing in a character voice and his musicality, and he's hitting the harmonies and he's doing really sophisticated, complicated things, and then also putting a Goofy voice on top of it. And Adam and I looked at each other and with Brandon, who's our cohort at Disney, and we're like, we are already doing A Goofy Movie in the show. We have to get Bill Farmer. And thankfully it was on his bucket list to play the Bowl, and so everything worked out. And he may be doing just a little bit more than just singing. So there's a little surprise to come as well.
LP: I can't wait. I mean, one of the highlights of that Disney cruise besides your concert was watching him sing “A Whole New World.”
SE: Oh my goodness. Wasn't that the funniest thing in the world? That was hilarious.
LP: And he’s always game for anything, right?
SE: Always game for anything, and just so full of joy. Somebody who's been in the industry a long time, never grown jaded, still appreciative, still full of love, which of course is Goofy. You have to have that, I think innately for it to come across in your performance. And Goofy's always been my favorite Disney character, and there's a reason, and it is because he's just joy personified, and so is Bill.
LP: You have done a lot of work bringing Disney concerts to fans, whether it's through your Disney Princess Concert Tour, the Disney Vacation Club cruise events, D23, and these Hollywood Bowl concerts. What have you learned through that whole process?
SE: First off, I'm really grateful. I love this part of it. I love being behind the scenes. In fact, I didn't even want to be in this show except that Hercules is 90s, so it's kind of stupid to be there and not go on stage and sing “I Won't Say,” but that's all I'm doing. This is really… I get to write this with my partners and direct it and put it together, and talk through all the elements of the animation and the choreography and everything. It's a great team. And I love pulling these different factions together and overseeing it. I think for two reasons. First of all, Jodi did that for me, and now I get to turn around and do that for young women in their early thirties. Aisha [Jackson] and Ari [Jacobs] and Krysta [Rodriguez], these folks that I was doing what they were doing when Jodi pulled me into this world.
And it's just such a fun departure from eight shows a week playing a character doing the same show all the time…
And the bowl is outdoors and beautiful, and this is the perfect kind of music for that outdoor venue. And then the other thing is the joy of the audience. And I love when people come dressed up or Disney bounding as their favorite characters. I love when they're singing along. I love when people hear this, “Oh, we're doing this decade.” "Oh, are you doing Mulan?" "Of course I'm doing Mulan." "Are you going to have the music?" "Of course we're going to have music." "Are you doing A Goofy Movie?" You can't believe the fanbase for A Goofy Movie. It's like, “Yes, of course we're doing A Goofy Movie.” We're going to do all of it, and we're going to do some live action movies.
Do you know, I mean, Hocus Pocus is in there. There's some other really great ones that have terrific music that just bring you back that nostalgia. Whether you're reliving your own childhood or passing along your childhood to your children, there is something, I know it's corny, but it is true, because with Princess and with some of our other shows, the show we did last year, the Bowl, we just did in Taipei. I've traveled the world, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, South America, with these shows. And every audience reacts the exact same way. It goes across culture lines, across religious lines, across economic lines. Disney really does pull people together in happiness, in joy. And while it may seem frivolous, I actually think it's really meaningful. So I'm honored that Disney has allowed me to grow up and to move on to other titles…
With “Broadway Princess Party,” when Ben, Adam, Laura, Courtney, and I are touring this thing around. And we decided to call Disney and get their blessing to see if we could blow this up, do a little glow-up of it. And they were in on it. They were like, "Great. We love it. We think it's great." And at that point, I worked for the company for 25 years, so they knew that I understood their message. They knew that I would take care of their brand. They trusted that, and they didn't have to. So I'm really grateful.
LP: And thank you for not producing an '80s, '90s Disney concert and not singing. That would have been… I would have been at my seat at the Hollywood Bowl being like, "Are you serious?"
SE: If you're going to see the show and you're going to be like, "Oh, Susan's so lazy," I'm going to sing the fourth number, and then we're going to move on.
Jodi and I do make a little guest appearance in Act Two just to kind of check back in and let the other kids change their clothes, so it's like… We are going to do something special in Act Two because I can't do a show with Jodi and not do something with her. We just… That's too special for us, and… So yeah. So we'll hit on a movie that I was not in.
LP: To wrap up, one of the special moments that you have created was on the DVC Cruise when you and Paige O'Hara united and really sent the message that Belle transcends everybody.
SE: Everybody.
LP: What was that like for you?
SE: Yeah, again, Jodi and I have been working on Paige for about a year and a half to say, "No, no, we're going to make you feel safe. We're going to make it fun." Ben [Rauhala] is such a beautiful music director, and he really takes care of us ladies. And so I knew Ben would make Paige feel safe, and so my job was to make sure she had fun. So it was like this one-two punch of like Ben and I are going to make this happen. And she had such a good time, but she has agreed to come and do the scene at D23, so it's not official, but I guess I'm just going to blow it now. Jodi's going to join us at D23, and so is Paige. And we have one more special guest that I will leave as a surprise. But yeah, that was unbelievably special for me because, of course, I idolized Paige. She paved the way for all of us.
LP: Well, on behalf of the fan community, thank you for making these special experiences and all these different venues. And we're really excited, as sort of a kickoff to the D23 season, that we'll be able to go to Hollywood Bowl and relive one of the couple of the most magical decades in Disney history.
SE: Oh, well, thank you so much. I just want people to know there are tickets as low as $15. This really is what I love about the Bowl — it is inclusive. There's lots of tickets left at every price point, so just come even last minute. Just come, bring your picnic, and be prepared to have a great time and definitely sing along.
Disney ’80s-’90s Celebration in Concert will perform at the Hollywood Bowl on July 19th and 20th. Tickets are now on sale.