Shoshana Bean recalls taking over for Idina Menzel in “Wicked” a day early after Tony winner broke her ribs
Shoshana Bean recalls taking over for Idina Menzel in “Wicked” a day early after Tony winner broke her ribs
Marina WattsTue, April 28, 2026 at 9:08 PM UTC
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Shoshana Bean; Idina MenzelCredit: Dia Dipasupil/Getty; Valerie Terranova/FilmMagicKey Points -
Shoshana Bean recalled taking over a day early for Idina Menzel on Broadway in her role as Elphaba after Menzel broke her ribs falling through an escape door onstage.
Bean said she felt "horrible" and was worried the audience was "going to hate" her for taking over early.
Menzel returned to the Gershwin Theatre stage to take her official final bow the day after her painful injury.
The adage "the show must go on" rang true for Shoshana Bean days before she formally stepped in for Idina Menzel in Wicked.
During a Tuesday appearance on the Dinner's on Me With Jesse Tyler Ferguson podcast, Bean, who is starring on Broadway in The Lost Boys, spoke about taking over for Menzel as the originator of Elphaba on Broadway. Bean was days away from taking over the role in an official capacity in January 2005 when tragedy struck.
"We were upstairs, me and Megan [Hilty] because Megan was a standby with me at the time. We're with the stage manager and we're just stepping through reviewing things because I'm going to take over on Tuesday. And again, I'd been on a million times," she said. She was then told she might be going onstage sooner than expected.
Menzel had injured herself, falling through an escape door onstage and breaking her ribs. There was a period of uncertainty about if Wicked was going on at all that afternoon for the Saturday matinee. "They didn't want to move her. They had to wait for the ambulance to come. And all the while they're just holding the show. I think they held for like 45 minutes. I could be wrong," Bean said.
Jennifer Laura Thompson and Shoshana Bean on Broadway in 'Wicked'Credit: Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic
"And so we held and we held and nowhere in my mind am I like, 'I got to go get ready and go on,'" she continued. "And sure enough at one point they're like, 'We're finishing the show. Go.' And they got me ready in 7 minutes." Bean said the makeup team had to "slap the paint on" and went on in time to sing "For Good" and bow with the cast at the show's conclusion, which she called "ludicrous."
Bean said the audience "had no idea what happened" and didn't know about Menzel's injury, but it was announced to the crowd that she was stepping in for the remainder of the matinee show that afternoon.
She was convinced Menzel would be back for the evening's show, since she only had a few shows left in her run as Elphaba and people had flown in from all over to see her. Bean was told, "Kiddo, you might as well consider tonight like your takeover."
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Bean said she felt "horrible" and was worried the audience was "going to hate" her, but "it was the complete opposite." Menzel came back for her final bow at the end of what was supposed to be her last show the following evening.
"It was the best possible thing they could do because you can't let this woman not take her final bow after — I don't know why I'm getting emotional about it — but, like, putting everything you put into something to originate it and take that ride. You live for that last weekend for like a release and to let people just like give you your flowers," she said.
Shoshana Bean in New York in April 2026Credit: John Lamparski/Getty
"For her to be able to walk on and have that last moment and it was such a great honor," Bean concluded.
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Menzel spoke about the injury and her conclusion as Elphaba before passing the torch to Bean. "At the same point in the show when I fell through the stage, two minutes before the end, she left the stage and allowed me to come and finish the show, which I could barely do," she told ELLE in March 2025.
"That was the end of my Broadway Wicked run, and I got to take some flowers and have a nice send-off. I’ll never forget that Shoshana did that for me, because not everyone would," she added. "I love her to this day for that."
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
