When one door closes, another one opens, even if you aren’t there to see the latch turn.
One of the most unexpected twists of the 2025/2026 season came in November 2025, when Caissie Levy exited a musical she had been workshopping for years, The Lost Boys, to focus on her familial obligations by staying with Ragtime, rather than enduring another chaotic preview period.
In her place, Shoshana Bean stepped in, performing the role of Lucy in The Lost Boys while Levy continued to Mother in Ragtime. On June 7, both went home as Tony winners for their respective performances, something that would not have been possible if Levy had not vacated the role of Lucy.
Said Levy in the winners room, “sometimes that’s what being a parent is,” Levy shared, referring to letting go of opportunities for yourself to prioritize your child. “When you care for someone outside of yourself, you still have aspirations and dreams, but they come first. I am so fortunate that, even with the bumps, which there are bound to be, this season aligned. I figured out a way through, having amazing support from my husband and parents and in-laws and friends who stood by me, to get through those times when you make tough decisions that everybody doesn’t like. The longer I’m a mom—I’m 10 years in to being a mom now—every day I’m grateful to make that greatest sacrifice. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Said Shoshana, “I can’t help but marvel that my dear friend, who’s like a sister, would make that decision. On a soul level, she was handing me a gift, and nothing on paper made it seem like this was the next right move, but something in my spirit moved me to say yes. I just continue, every step of this way, to be grateful. I just marvel at the fact I said yes, and everything that has followed.”
The transformative power of motherhood has also touched Bean throughout this season’s journey. “I am not a mother myself, but I’ve always had that maternal instinct,” she shared. “With this show, I have landed in an experience with two boys who receive that, who want that, who want to listen to me and lean into me and ask for me and reach for me, and that, to me…” Bean waves her hand to the side, emotional. “Because I was raised up with the theatrical mother Harvey Fierstein, I feel like I have the ultimate combination of tough love and tender love from the greatest teacher, and I’m now in a position to lead as mom onstage to those two boys. It is the best part of the show. It’s the best. It is a great honor and gift to be intentionally that for someone else.”
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