BWW Blog: Adam Brandner - Five Questions with Broadway Superstar, Shoshana Bean

Broadway superstar and recording artist, Shoshana Bean, has joined forces with Todrick Hall to release their latest YouTube video: Spell Block Tango. The belting diva has taken on the role of Cruella De Vil in this hilarious and star-studded parody. Other stars that grace the small screen are Adam Lambert and Amber Riley from Glee. Bean plays the fashion-obsessed De Vil with a twist. In her rendition, De Vil is doing a little jail time for the murder of Horace and Jasper for failing to meet her fashion demands. They just didn't know their fabrics. De Vil wasn't having it.

Bean is perhaps best known for her time playing Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West in Stephen Schwartz's Wicked. Her first two studio albums, Superhero and O'Farrell Street, have kept her fans happy and even reached the top of the R&B iTunes charts soaring as high as number five making her the only independent artist to be in the top one hundred.

This incredibly talented artist was gracious enough to agree to an interview for Broadwayworld.com. Below, she answered a few questions on her career, song writing, and third studio album.

Brandner: Which character that you have portrayed has inspired you the most in your life?

Bean: Tracy Turnblad. Tracy who turned the other cheek, always chose love instead of fear, and chased after her desires with a passionate spirit no one could lessen!

Brandner: Can you pinpoint advice given to you by a teacher in your life that helped shape your career as a performer?

Bean: No. Not really any teachers. But my aunt said two things to me in my life that stuck: "If it's important you MAKE time," and "Go with your gut."

Brandner: How has your time on Broadway influenced your recording career?

Bean: It hasn't influenced the actually recording part, but the work ethic, the physical and vocal endurance and stamina and the ability to relate to, be sensitive to and gage an audience are all gifts I got from working in the theater that have helped immensely!!!

Brandner: What is your process when you are writing songs and do you have a particular song that you are proud of the most?

Bean: My songs always come from my own experience or the experiences of those closest to me. I always start with the lyric and build the melody around it. I am the most proud of 'Blood from a Stone.'

Brandner: Can you tell me anything about your next album?

Bean: Yes. It will still be a vintage sound but not so 'on the nose.' There will be more modern elements and it will be quite a bit edgier. Still soulful, but with more rock and blues influences.

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