DeLee Lively Has a ‘Grand’ Time Dancing Her Way Into Hollywood

“I think everybody is blessed with a gift from God,” says DeLee Lively. The Houston native plays the star-struck typist Flaemmchen in Tommy Tune’s Tony-winning musical “Grand Hotel,” currently at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre.

“I was lucky to find my gift at a young age. Some people never find theirs ever , and it’s so sad to me.”

Lively could barely walk when she knew she was destined to dance. “I started dancing in preschool,” she says. “The instructors said to my parents: ‘There is something interesting with the way DeLee dances. She is picking up steps and she longs for more. She’s the only one paying attention and not picking her nose in class.’ ”

When she was 9, Lively made her professional bow in Houston as Baby June in “Gypsy” and began teaching a dance class.

“My parents were so wonderful,” Lively recalls. “My daddy worked two jobs so they could afford to send me to class. They always said, ‘If you want to quit, do.’ But it was a dream of mine. They are very proud.”

One of Lively’s biggest goals is to originate a character of her own, not just “do something that someone else has done before.”

At least, Lively adds with a laugh, she gets to originate a dress in “Grand Hotel.” “When I got the tour they made the two dresses the original Flaemmchen had,” she explains. “But when they put the one dress on me, it didn’t work. She didn’t have breasts and I do, and all of a sudden I looked like Dolly Parton. So they sent me back to the costume designer and I got my own costume. I feel like a million dollars to know that this dress was specifically designed for me!”

Lively’s contract with “Grand Hotel” ends in November. “I do have an option of staying with the tour,” says the actress. “All my belongings are in storage in New Jersey. I am trying to get (TV and film) work while I am out here. I like to believe whatever is going to happen is going to happen.”