AUBURN - Dancer and Auburn native Terry Dagnesi wasn't even looking for a slipper, let alone a glass one that fit. Now suddenly a pumpkin has turned into an airplane, which will bring the new leading lady of the “Disney Live” show on a world tour.

And it all happened in a day.

“There was a huge audition, hundreds of people were there, but I didn't go,” Dagnesi said while stopping in town Thursday.

But the show ended up with a bunch of holes which needed to be filled.

“So they asked the cast if there was anyone they could call and someone said me,” she said.

Dagnesi sent in a head shot and a resume. She got an audition, and three hours after trying out, they told her she was going to be Cinderella.

“A bunch of things went through my mind. I thought, ‘I have to go home to see my family,'” Dagnesi said.

So, when she finished her 10-month stint as a dancer in Cinderella's Court in Disney World Sunday, she left Orlando and drove all night back to upstate New York (although her 1996 Toyota broke down two hours from home). Without time to really catch her breath, she leaves today for South Carolina to rehearse.

“I think that's how things happen nowadays. In the entertainment field, things happen fast,” she said.

She's aware of how the industry works; after all, she comes from a performing family. Her father, Jim Dagnesi, played bass for Savoy Brown during the 1970s.

“My father has been my biggest mentor,” Dagnesi said. “I would call him every day and he would say, ‘Go for it.' I ask him about everything.”

She even asked him for advice on packing.

“What do you bring with you on tour?” she said.

“It's nice to know,” Jim Dagnesi said. “I know what Terry's feeling and I know it's all good. Any way I can help her, I will - the ‘I wish I knew then what I know now' part of it.”

It is not the first time dad assisted daughter with dance.

While a major in dance and business at SUNY Brockport, Terry performed with the color guard of the Rochester marching band, The Empire Statesman. Dad, who played horn, gave her access to an audition. As a result, she gained valuable experience performing “Miss Saigon,” “West Side Story,” and “A Chorus Line,” each individual year of which resulted in world championship awards for the band.

Then she was off to Disney World in Florida as an intern, dancing six performances a day along with marching in the “Dreams Come True” parade.

“Oh my God, it's been amazing. I've gotten to perform for thousands of people every day. It really is the most magical place on earth,” Terry said. However, even that did not prepare her for an audition for a lead dancing role in a world tour, set for Mexico, Japan, various to-be-announced Asian countries, as well as the U.S.

“There was nobody in the room but a video camera. I had to mime it out, pretend other characters were there that weren't. I had no idea what they were going ask me to do next. There was no way to prepare,” she said. “Before, when I was just dancing in Cinderella's Court, I could just be myself. Now I'm playing a character. It's my responsibility to the children to be believable. They are going to believe I'm Cinderella.”

Growing up, “Annie Hall” was Dagnesi's favorite movie. Annie was her very first doll. Now it's all Cinderella, all the time.

“It sounds silly, but I've been watching her movie a lot. Learning how she acts, watching her facial expressions,” Dagnesi said.

The little girl, whom her father said started dancing at 3, has no ambition to act, however.

“I'll always be on the dancing end of it,” she said. “My dream is to open a place and go back to where I started from, teaching children how to dance. But right now I'm really happy. I don't know how to top this. You know what they say - some dreams really do come true.”