Shoshana Bean

Shoshana E. Bean, born September 1, 1977, in Olympia, Washington, is an American actress, singer, and songwriter whose career spans Broadway, Off-Broadway, recording, and concert performance. Her father, Jeff Bean, is an Ashkenazi Jew, and her mother, Felice Moskowitz, is a Sephardic Jew of Greek heritage and a dance teacher. Bean's parents divorced when she was nine, after which she relocated to the Portland, Oregon area. She graduated from Beaverton High School in 1995 and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in 1999.

Shortly after arriving in New York City in 2000, Bean was cast in the Off-Broadway revival of Godspell at the York Theatre at Saint Peter's Church, a production documented on the Varese Sarabande cast recording. The following year she performed in the national tour of Leader of the Pack. Her Broadway debut came in 2002 as an original cast member of Hairspray, in which she originated the role of Shelley, Denizen of Baltimore, while also serving as understudy for Tracy Turnblad, Velma Von Tussle, and Prudy Pingleton. The production was a Tony Award-winning one, and Bean appeared on its original Broadway cast recording for Sony Classical.

In 2004, Bean joined the Broadway company of Wicked as a replacement standby for Elphaba Thropp, the role originated by Idina Menzel. On January 8, 2005, one day before Menzel's scheduled final performance, Menzel fell through a trap door and cracked a lower rib, and Bean performed that show. Bean assumed the role full-time on January 11, 2005, playing opposite Jennifer Laura Thompson and subsequently Megan Hilty as Glinda Upland, until her final performance on January 8, 2006, when she was succeeded by Eden Espinosa. In 2006, Bean reprised Elphaba in the first national tour of Wicked, with that engagement concluding on December 31 of that year.

In 2009, Bean joined the Las Vegas production of Peepshow as Peep Diva alongside Holly Madison, replacing Spice Girls singer Mel B. In 2011, she wrote and starred in the musical Dear John Mayer, with music and lyrics by Bean and a book by fellow University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music graduate Eydie Faye. In 2015, Bean portrayed CeeCee Bloom in a musical adaptation of Beaches at the Drury Lane Theater in Chicago. The following year she played Fanny Brice in North Shore Music Theatre's production of Funny Girl, a performance for which she won the 2017 IRNE Award for Best Actress. In 2018, she appeared in the New York City Center Encores! Off-Center production of Songs for a New World, which was subsequently released on Ghostlight Records.

Bean returned to Broadway on March 18, 2019, in the role of Jenna Hunterson in Waitress for a limited engagement that was originally scheduled through May 2019 and later extended through July 21, 2019. In March 2022, she returned again in Mr. Saturday Night at the Nederlander Theatre, starring alongside Billy Crystal. The performance earned her nominations for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical at the 75th Tony Awards, the Distinguished Performer Award at the Drama League Awards, and Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical at the 71st Outer Critics Circle Awards. The original Broadway cast recording on Craft Recordings also brought Bean a Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.

From October 2023 through January 2024, Bean starred as Jersey in Alicia Keys' jukebox musical Hell's Kitchen during its Off-Broadway run at The Public Theater. She then joined the Broadway production at the Shubert Theatre, which opened on April 20, 2024. Her work in the show across both engagements generated nominations from the Tony Awards, Drama Desk Awards, Drama League Awards, and Lucille Lortel Awards. Her second Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical came at the 77th Tony Awards. The Hell's Kitchen original Broadway cast recording earned Bean a second Grammy nomination for Best Musical Theater Album, and she won the award with that production.

Alongside her theater work, Bean has built a recording career on her own label, Shotime Records. Her debut album, Superhero, was released on December 2, 2008, in the pop rock genre. Her second album, O'Farrell Street, followed in February 2013, produced by Tim K, whose credits include work with Madonna, Celine Dion, and Brandy; the record incorporates 1960s-era soul and reached number three on the iTunes R&B charts. In December 2014, Bean released the blues EP Shadows to Light, produced by Bean and Jake Schaefer, which reached number one on the iTunes Blues charts. Her third album, Spectrum, released in February 2018 in the rhythm and blues genre, was supported by a tour that included a concert at the Apollo Theater in Harlem featuring an 18-piece orchestra, as well as dates in London at Cadogan Hall, Las Vegas, and Dallas. Bean has cited Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, and Frank Sinatra as inspirations for that record. Her single "Superhero" won an AIM Independent Music Award for Best R&B Song.

Bean's music has appeared on television programs including MTV's The Hills, Mercy, Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce, Bad Girls Club, and Showtime's The Big C. She arranged the vocals for Jennifer Lopez's performance of "I Luh Ya Papi" on American Idol and has contributed to film soundtracks including Hairspray, Enchanted, Dance Flick, and the 2016 animated musical Sing. Beginning in 2015, she performed with Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox, including on the group's 2016 European Tour. In August and September 2019, she performed a residency at Feinstein's/54 Below. She has performed in concert alongside artists including BeBe Winans, Brian McKnight, Ariana Grande, David Foster, Jason Robert Brown, and Michael Jackson.