Have you noticed? The Fresh Beat Band has a new member! Actually, it’s the same character, played by a new actress. The character’s name is Marina, and she’s the one who typically wears purple and teal blue, and she plays the drums. While I wasn’t particularly enamored with the original Marina in the beginning, I grew to appreciate her character, and thought she did a fair job. She seemed to genuinely enjoy her character. So, what happened to her?

Actually, if you Google “Fresh Beat Band” or any variation thereof, that question is currently what’s on everyone’s mind, it seems. I’ve read post after post of ‘What happened to Marina?’, ‘Where did Marina go?’ and ‘Why is there a new Marina?’ Many people have noticed that there’s a new actress playing the part, but seem to be in the dark about why the first Marina, actress Shayna Rose, has been replaced. Did she screw up? Did she quit? Is she okay? Was it a contract dispute? Is she touring with a fresher, cooler band?

Well, here are the answers to these pressing questions, and a few others. No, she was not fired; she didn’t do anything wrong, and she’s fine. According to reports, Shayna Rose made the choice to quit the show. All of the articles I found said that she left to get married and pursue other projects. Contrarily, the entry on Wikipedia says that she is, in fact already married. Who knows, but I’m sure the part about pursuing other projects is probably accurate. I wish her the best in her endeavors.

The new Marina, actress Tara Perry, seems to be doing a good job thus far. While I’m having trouble adjusting to a new person in the same role (especially her red hair, which is redder than Rose’s), on the episodes I’ve seen so far, she sounds good singing with the group. I wondered if that was just studio tricks, until they performed live on “The View” the first week of July.

Luckily for me, I had the opportunity to watch this live performance. If you missed it, you can catch it on sites like hulu or youtube (to name a few). The new Marina sounds good live, too. Based on this live performance, I also think that she’s a better dancer than Rose (in my opinion), who always seemed a bit stiff.

So, overall, it’s my opinion that the new Marina will do just fine. I’m not sure how your kids are handling the change (my preschooler keeps saying “who is that? Where is Marina?”). I suspect that they may be a bit surprised to see a new face as well. Or not. Honestly, I don’t think they really care, as long as the Fresh Beats keep coming.