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Shoshana Bean stars was Jenna in Waitress the Musical on Broadway
Shoshana Bean stars was Jenna in Waitress the Musical on Broadway

Shoshana Bean is the Next Jenna in Waitress

Musical theatre star Shoshana Bean is about to make her triumphant return to Broadway. Bean will be the next actress in a parade of performers to put on the diner uniform to play Jenna in the Broadway hit Waitress. She will take over the role on March 18, 2019, and stay with the show through May 12, 2019.

Bean made her Broadway debut in the original cast of Hairspray and was the first replacement Elphaba in Wicked, following Idina Menzel’s tenure with the production. Her album Spectrum went to #1 on the Billboard Jazz Charts. Regionally, she has appeared as Fanny Brice in the musical Funny Girl and she originated the role of Cee-Cee Bloom in the musical adaptation of Beaches, for which she earned a Jeff Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Musical.

“I am thrilled to be coming back to the New York stage in such a special role and show!” shared Bean. “To get to tell this beautiful woman’s story and sing this extraordinary score is an honor.”

Waitress tells the story of Jenna, a waitress and expert pie-maker who dreams of a way out of her small town and rocky marriage. Pouring her heart into her pies, she crafts desserts that mirror her topsy-turvy life such as “The Key (Lime) to Happiness Pie” and “Betrayed By My Eggs Pie.” When a baking contest in a nearby county — and a satisfying run-in with someone new — show Jenna a chance at a fresh start, she must find the courage to seize it. Change is on the menu, as long as Jenna can write her own perfectly personal recipe for happiness. “

The hit musical opened at Broadway’s Brooks Atkinson Theatre on April 24, 2016. Heralded for its score by Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, the musical is adapted from the 2007 motion picture written by Adrienne Shelly. The book for the stage production is written by Jessie Nelson, with direction by Diane Paulus and choreography by Lorin Latarro.

Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of Musicals, The Disney Song Encyclopedia, and The Encyclopedia of Television Theme Songs. He maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.

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