Maybe I’m misremembering but I recall a lot of positive buzz about her and the show. I didn’t even realize the role had been recast until listening to the album but I admittedly have not been following the show much at all so I missed any announcement there may have been.
At BSC I felt the role was underdeveloped and poorly written, not Umphress’ fault. I haven’t seen the Broadway production but perhaps they rewrote the role for Bean?
My assumption is that JRB and Rando always wanted Beane for this role but she was unavailable for the Barrington run, so they had Umphress do it. Sort of an Elena Shaddow in BRIDGES situation.