Real life, love after ‘Beauty and the Beast’
But a health challenge has shaken the couple’s fairy tale story
You can see why people sometimes tell Julie and John Owen that they’re living a fairy tale. They met unbelievably cute on stage at Disney World as Belle and Prince in “Beauty and the Beast” in 2006. Now they’re both at the Medical College of Wisconsin becoming doctors, and they have a darling 2-year-old son, Jack. A fairy tale, right?
“I would argue, not quite,” Julie said. “The events of the past year have not only challenged us tremendously, but they have have given us an astoundingly unique perspective on what is important and meaningful in this life.”
Happily ever after took a detour one year ago last week when John had a seizure that led to the discovery of an avocado-sized tumor in his brain. A scar on the right side of his head shows where doctors went in to remove most of the intruder.
I met the Franklin couple last week at Froedtert Hospital, and their beaming smiles made me think they might break into song and dance at any moment. They retain the wholesome sheen that led Disney to put them on stage.
Julie, 35, grew up in Greenfield, but at age 9 moved with her family to Florida, where she took acting, voice and dance lessons. She first auditioned at Disney World a few days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A few months later, she was contacted about a Cinderella show, and by 2002 she was performing full time at Disney. She also found time to graduate from the University of Central Florida, where she majored in musical theater and psychology.
Julie had been working on “Beauty and the Beast” for four years when John joined the show in September 2006. He is from the northeast Florida coast, and he, too, was interested in performing from childhood on. He worked in various shows during 16 months at Tokyo Disney.
But now here he was the Prince to Julie’s Belle at Disney’s MGM Studios. They performed together in the show for five months, and both say they loved working for Disney.
“Our first meeting was a stage kiss, and it can be very awkward,” Julie said.
But John has an earlier memory of seeing his future wife backstage at Cinderellabration. “I do distinctly remember catching a glimpse of the Cinderella for that day and thinking that she was flawlessly and breathtakingly beautiful. Little did I know that this was Julie.”
They both remember their first conversation was during a break at “Beauty and the Beast.” Each was surprised to hear the other had an interest in going to medical school someday. Love bloomed. Their first date was at the ESPN Club at Disney’s Boardwalk to watch the Packers — Julie was still a fan from her growingup years — play the Eagles.
They spent plenty of time together on stage. The 35-minute abridged telling of “Beauty and the Beast” was performed five times a day, seven days a week.
Julie was done being Belle in February 2007, and John left the show in May of that year. Julie, eager to return to Milwaukee, applied to the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2008, the same year she and John were married. She is in her final year of psychiatry residency and intends to specialize in women’s mental health.
John, who also attended the University of Central Florida but did not finish there, entered the nursing program at Milwaukee School of Engineering. While in school, he also was at Froedtert Hospital, working his way up to an emergency tech, and later was hired as a nurse after he graduated. He is a fourth-year student at the Medical College with plans to work in emergency medicine.
He is feeling well now, but cancer still casts a shadow over the future. He hopes doctors can remove more of the malignant brain tumor that remains. Chemotherapy and radiation also were used.
“One could assume — and you should never assume with cancer — that I’d have a minimum of 15 years,” he said. But at age 31, he wants so much more.
“We are hopeful that in that time there will be advances made that will keep him here with us for much longer than that,” Julie said. “It has given us a new outlook as physicians treating patients after inhabiting that role. We have come a long way from our Disney days portraying fairy tale characters without a substantial care in the world.”
Someday when the crazy demands of medical school and raising a toddler subside, they might even get back into performing. They’re taking ballroom dancing lessons this year. Julie has performed locally, including “The Fantasticks” at Milwaukee Skylight Opera in 2003, “Miss Nelson is Missing!” at First Stage in 2004, and other shows in Milwaukee and Chicago.
You probably know that a film verson of “Beauty and the Beast” opened this weekend. It’s now being performed at Milwaukee’s Skylight Music Theatre and the Fireside Theatre in Fort Atkinson, and Milwaukee Ballet has it on the schedule for April 2018. Clearly, this is a story that continues to fascinate adults and children.
Julie and John enjoy watching the animated version with their son.
“He calls daddy Beast and he calls Belle mommy,” Julie said. “He does grasp that. We’ve shown him enough pictures.”