Since her debut as a standby she always showed no fear about having unique style and nailing every performance! She's one of greatest legends that Wicked ever had and I'm very proud to have her as my favorite Elphaba
I love how different as a standby she was to Idina. A lot of shows try and cast the understudy or the standby to be as similar to the lead as they can but you can tell Wicked was very confident that Shoshana would keep the show being talked about even if Idina was out from the very beginning. They knew they had to replace Idina with someone BIG, maybe not in name (at the time) but certainly in their ability to deliver the role convincingly.
I always wonder what people used to think of Sho as standby as they watched the show for the first time with Sho playing Elphaba. Even Rachel Tucker admits to being disappointed when they announced Idina was sick and that Shoshana was going on instead, until she heard her sing. The pressure on any actress replacing an original cast member in a role is enough for anyone to crack under pressure, yet Shoshana proved to the world that Wicked was STILL the same show despite the absence of Kristen and Idina. I truly accredit Shoshana as the first replacement lead to the shoes success and proving it had a life WITHOUT Kristen and Idina.
An absolute star who took the role and forever evolved the way that all future Elphabas sang the role (especially that opt up on the 2nd BMD). She'll always be my #1 Elphie vocally.
Can we just note the fact that she's the most consistent with perfect timing of the word DOWN when she sings "is ever gonna bring me DOWN"? Sure the conductor plays a huge role there, but we see multiple conductors here. Her clear musical intention and skill as a performer help the conductor nail that timing cooperatively with her. What an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime performer
I legit didn’t realize I actually got to see her first two performances waaaaaay back in 2004. I remember being bummed Idina was on vacation, but then being blown away by Shoshana. What a trip down memory lane.
@@mrbroadwaydork fyi, Shoshana is my favorite Elphaba ever. I love each and every audio we have collected over the years, but I am a firm believer in documenting everything, good and bad. Me pointing out her ONE mistake that she ever made in her time on this show and how she recovered from it, is meant to highlight her skill. Even on "bad" days, she still outstripped almost everyone else ever. I commented this because I wanted to draw attention to her vocal control and strength to be able to recover instantly.
Does Shoshana Bean's last broadway performance make the record of the most video bootlegs for one performance on Broadway? I mean I'm sure both wicked brazil productions surpassed it for the last, but on Broadway specifically I don't think I've ever seen that many videos, there's 4 currently uncovered (and who knows, maybe more)
@@legallywicked but even then this is so few when compared to Wicked Brazil, oof We need more people like the Brazilian audience (singing at last shows, not giving a toss they're not supposed to be recording...)
Please PLEASE include some of DiNoia's unique and insane high-F second "Bring Me Down" performances. I saw her do it live and it was mind-blowing. It came out of nowhere and rocked my life
