Belle appeared in the Broadway musical adaptation of '' Beauty and the Beast '' . The role was originated by actress Susan Egan , who was initially reluctant to audition for '' Beauty and the Beast '' because she " thought it was a terrible idea for Disney to put a cartoon on Broadway . " However , her agent managed to convince her otherwise , and Egan ultimately turned down callbacks for roles in the musicals '' My Fair Lady '' , '' Carousel '' and '' Grease '' in favor of starring as Belle in '' Beauty and the Beast '' because she had always wanted to originate a Broadway role . Egan had never watched '' Beauty and the Beast '' prior to her audition , relying solely on " her own creative instincts " instead . Egan 's performance earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical at the 48th Tony Awards . A total of seventeen actresses have portrayed Belle in the Broadway musical , among them recording artists Debbie Gibson and Toni Braxton , '' The Sopranos ' '' Jamie-Lynn Sigler , and Disney Channel alumnae Christy Carlson Romano and Anneliese van der Pol , the latter of whom became Broadway 's final Belle when the show ended its thirteen-year-long run in 2007 . Actress Sarah Litzsinger remains Broadway 's longest-running Belle
48th Tony Awards
48th Tony Awards
Belle (Beauty and the Beast)