Ellicott City native lives the dream in Disney Live! Three Classic Fairy Tales

Madelin Weisfeld, like many young girls, dreamed of becoming a princess and wearing a shiny, elegant dress with a sparking tiara atop of her flowing hair.

“I grew up loving Snow White,” she said. “Now, I get to live the dream.”

Weisfeld’s reality is she is Disney’s first princess, at least in the eyes of the thousands of girls who will watch her take the stage on tour with Disney Live! Three Classic Fairy Tales.

Every show, she’s no longer the 26-year-old who grew up homeschooled in Ellicott City and turned her love of ballet, dance and of course, Disney, into a career playing the iconic princess who wishes she never took a bite of a poisonous apple.

“When I step into Snow White’s dress, which is absolutely beautiful, I feel like I’m bringing her to life,” Weisfeld said. “I am Snow White.”

Weisfeld’s journey to don the blue bodice with puffy red and blue sleeves and an ankle-length yellow skirt with a white petticoat complete with yellow shoes and a red cape and bow is no fairy tale. There wasn’t any magic or pixie dust involved.

She started taking ballet at Ballet with Cindee Velle in Columbia when she was 4 and now performs on stages across the country, with shows in Mexico scheduled for early 2016.

Weisfeld wasn’t groomed to be a princess. After graduating from Wichita State University with a degree in Dance Performance and Choreography, she moved to Orlando to work for Disney World in 2011, where she had interned in college. At The Most Magical Place on Earth, she was an ensemble dancer who complemented Disney’s main characters in parades and shows.

“My favorite memory on stage was the first time I performed in the Christmas Parade at Walt Disney World (Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade) as a court dancer,” she said. “It was magical dancing down Main Street while it was snowing with sparkling lights all around, in front of thousands of happy families.”

But she wanted more – and her opportunity arrived in March, when she attended a general audition in Orlando.

“I wasn’t trying out for a specific part,” she said. “You auditioned and then they decided if you fit in to any of the shows.”

In June, she was offered the role of Snow White, and made her debut on July 20 in of all places, Tupelo, Mississippi, the birthplace of Elvis Presley.

Disney’s newest princess started her career in the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s hometown.

And she hasn’t stopped touring  – crisscrossing the country on a tour that will stop at the Lyric for three shows next month (Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.; Dec. 5 at 12 p.m., 3 p.m.).

“It’s been incredible going from city to city and bringing Disney to people who might not get to go to Orlando,” she said.

Disney Live! Three Classic Fairy Tales opens with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald and Goofy open an enchanted storybook that bring the timeless classics of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and Beauty and The Beast in a performance that encourages the audience to sing and cheer for their princesses to defeat their evil villains.

“You see all of these little girls dressed up like their favorite princesses and you can see that seeing Snow White and Cinderella and Belle from Beauty and The Beast means so much to them,” Wesfield said. “You want them to see the magic and then watch it unfold.”

Disney Live! Three Classic Fairy Tales will take Weisfeld to Virginia, Louisiana, Georgia, Texas and California by the time the U.S. leg of the tour ends in January.

Weisfeld isn’t sure what will happen when her one-year contract expires, saying only she plans to move to Orlando because she’s committed to Disney.

“If I wasn’t performing, I’m not quite sure what I’d be doing,” she added. “But I know the arts would somehow be involved because I couldn’t imagine my life without it.”

Disney Live! Three Classic Fairy Tales

Where: The Lyric

Shows: Friday, December 4: 7 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 5: 12 p.m., 3 p.m.