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Maria Friedman

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Maria Friedman
Maria Friedman during the 2024 Tony Awards
Born
Maria Freedman

(1960-03-19) 19 March 1960 (age 65)
Switzerland
OccupationActress
Years active1980–present
Spouse(s)Roland Brine (divorced)
Adrian Der Gregorian (2006–present)
Partner(s)Jeremy Sams
Oleg Poupko
Children2
RelativesSonia Friedman (sister)

Maria Friedman (née Freedman; born 19 March 1960)[1] is a Swiss-born British actress and director, best known for her work in musical theatre.

She is a seven-time Laurence Olivier Award nominee, winning three times for acting. Her first win was for her 1994 one-woman show, By Special Arrangement. She twice won as Best Actress in a Musical—for Fosca in the original London production of Passion (1997), and for Mother in the original London production of Ragtime (2004).[2]

Friedman played the narrator in the 1999 straight to video version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

She played Elaine Peacock in the British television series EastEnders from 2014 to 2017. In 2023 the role was recast with Harriet Thorpe taking over as Elaine.

Friedman directed the 2013 West End revival of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, which won the 2014 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival.

She directed the 2023 Broadway revival of Merrily We Roll Along, which won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, the 2024 Drama League Award for Outstanding Revival of a Musical, and a 2024 Special Citation from the New York Drama Critics Circle.

Early life

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Maria Friedman was born in Switzerland, the second of the four children of Clair Llewelyn (née Sims), a concert pianist, and Leonard Friedman (né Freedman), a classical violinist and member of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Her father was from a Russian-Jewish immigrant family, while her mother is English.[3] Her family moved to Germany, where she began her education, but her parents soon divorced, and her mother returned to England with the children.[4] Her elder brother was the classical violinist Richard Friedman (deceased). Her younger sisters are the theatre director and producer Sonia Friedman, and Dr. Sarah Beecham, an academic researcher at the University of Limerick, Ireland.[1][5][6]

Career

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In 1989, she appeared in the lead female role of Hayyah in the play Ghetto by Joshua Sobol at the Olivier Theatre in London. In the following year she appeared in another Royal National Theatre production as Dot in Sunday in the Park with George by Stephen Sondheim.

She won an Olivier Award for her one-woman cabaret Maria Friedman By Special Arrangement and another Olivier Award (Best Actress in a Musical) in 1997 for starring in Sondheim's Passion. She appeared in Passion in the West End at the Queen's Theatre in 1996 as Fosca.[7][8] She starred in Chicago in the West End at the Adelphi Theatre as Roxie starting in 1998.[9]

In the 1999 film of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, she played the narrator. She played the role of Mother in the West End production of Ragtime at the Piccadilly Theatre starting in March 2003,[10] winning the 2004 Olivier Award, Best Actress in a Musical.[11]

In 2004, she originated the role of Marian Halcombe in Lloyd Webber's musical The Woman in White in the West End and on Broadway in 2005. As previews for The Woman in White started for the Broadway production, she was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer and left the show to have surgery to have the lump removed. Less than a week after the surgery she returned to the stage for the previews and performed on the official opening night. She said she would begin radiation treatment for the cancer in December 2005.[12] The Broadway production closed after only 109 performances on 22 February 2006, in part due to her and co-star Michael Ball's frequent absences due to illness. (Friedman had planned a six-week absence for further treatment, with Judy Kuhn to be her replacement,[citation needed] but remained for the duration of the run once the closing was announced.)

As well as other musical shows, Friedman participated in Hey, Mr. Producer!, the concert celebrating the works of Sir Cameron Mackintosh, in which she sang "You Could Drive a Person Crazy," "Broadway Baby," and "How Many Tears?" Similarly, she participated in Sondheim Tonight live at London's Barbican Centre, singing "Losing My Mind" (from Follies) and "More" (from the film Dick Tracy). She has also had several one woman shows: Maria Friedman – By Special Arrangement and Maria Friedman – By Extra Special Arrangement and has performed these in several top cabaret venues in both the UK (most recently at Trafalgar Studios) and New York City, including several engagements at the Café Carlyle.[13] She can be heard on many cast recordings; and has released several solo albums including Maria Friedman, Maria Friedman Live, Now and Then, and Maria Friedman Celebrates The Great British Songbook.[14] Friedman has won three Laurence Olivier Awards and been nominated for seven.[15]

In July 2007, Friedman sang the role of Mrs. Lovett in four performances of a concert version of Sweeney Todd opposite Bryn Terfel at London's Royal Festival Hall.[16] In 2010, she appeared as a soloist in the BBC Proms tribute to Stephen Sondheim at the Royal Albert Hall, London. In October 2014, Friedman joined the cast of EastEnders as Elaine Peacock, the mother of established character Linda Carter (Kellie Bright).[17] She has since appeared in December 2014 and February to March 2015 to date, before returning for a three-month stint in September 2015.[citation needed]

Directing

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Friedman appeared as Mary Flynn in a production of Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester in 1992.[15] Twenty years later, she directed a revival of the musical, which started at the Menier Chocolate Factory in November 2012, and transferred to the West End at the Harold Pinter Theatre in April to July 2013.[18] This won the 2014 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival.

Friedman subsequently directed a production of Merrily We Roll Along at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, Massachusetts, which opened in September 2017.[19] She directed an off-Broadway production based on her Menier Chocolate Factory staging that premiered at the New York Theatre Workshop in 2022, and transferred to Broadway at the Hudson Theatre the following year.[20] For this she was nominated for a 2024 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical. The Broadway revival of Merrily We Roll Along was nominated for six other Tony Awards and won four: Best Revival of a Musical, Best Actor in a Musical (Jonathan Groff), Best Featured actor in a Musical (Daniel Radcliffe), and Best Orchestrations (Jonathan Tunick). She directed the filmed version of the musical, which was released in December 2025.

Friedman has directed other musicals. In 2015, she directed a revival of High Society at The Old Vic Theatre. The production was played in the round.[21] She directed a revival of Stepping Out in the West End at the Vaudeville Theatre in 2017.[22] In November 2026, she will direct a new chamber production of My Fair Lady at Pitlochry Festival Theatre starring Alan Cumming as Henry Higgins (as part of his inaugural season as Artistic Director).

Personal life

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Friedman married dancer Roland Brine in 1985; the couple divorced in 2002.[23] She married actor Adrian Der Gregorian in 2006.[24] She has two sons: Toby Sams-Friedman (b. 1994), an actor, with director and writer Jeremy Sams;[15] and Alfred Friedman (b. 2002), also an actor, with cameraman Oleg Poupko.[1]

Stage productions

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As performer

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As director

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Filmography

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Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Work Result
1991 Laurence Olivier Award Best Actress in a Musical Sunday in the Park with George Nominated
1995 Laurence Olivier Award Best Entertainment By Special Arrangement Won
1997 Laurence Olivier Award Best Actress in a Musical Passion Won
1998 Laurence Olivier Award Best Actress in a Musical Lady in the Dark Nominated
1999 Laurence Olivier Award Best Actress in a Musical Chicago Nominated
2004 Laurence Olivier Award Best Actress in a Musical Ragtime Won
2005 Laurence Olivier Award Best Actress in a Musical The Woman in White Nominated
2006 Theatre World Award Honoree
2009 Laurence Olivier Award Best Entertainment Maria Friedman: Rearranged Nominated
2014 Laurence Olivier Award Best Director Merrily We Roll Along Nominated
2023 Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Director of a Musical Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Awards Best Director Nominated
2024 Tony Awards Best Direction of a Musical Nominated
Drama League Awards Outstanding Director of a Musical Won
2025 Grammy Awards Best Musical Theater Album Nominated

References

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  1. ^ a b c "About Maria" aboutmaria.com (official site)
  2. ^ Friedman's other nominations were for Dot in the original London production of Sunday in the Park with George (1991), Liza Elliott in the London revival of Lady in the Dark (1998), Roxie Hart in the London revival of Chicago (1999), and Marian in the world premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Woman in White (2005).[1]
  3. ^ Nikkhah, Roya (24 December 2009). "Sonia Friedman: 'There's nothing wrong with wearing pretty clothes and lipstick – and still being a strong woman'". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  4. ^ "Casualty: Maria Friedman Plays Trish Baynes". Holby.tv. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  5. ^ Maria Friedman (9 December 2005). "Broadway Buzz". Broadway.com (Interview: transcript). Interviewed by David Drake.
  6. ^ "Radio interview Woman's Hour - About Maria Friedman".
  7. ^ " 'Passion' London" sondheimguide.com, retrieved 29 April 2019
  8. ^ "Olivier Award Winners" officiallondontheatre.com, retrieved 29 April 2019
  9. ^ Benedict, ."Musical: The hottest show in town reaches boiling point" The Independent, 4 December 1998.
  10. ^ Jones, Kenneth. "New Music: Freshly Reconceived 'Ragtime' Opens in London March 19" Playbill, 19 March 2003.
  11. ^ "Olivier Winners 2004" officiallondontheatre.com; retrieved 29 April 2019.
  12. ^ "Stage star back after cancer op". BBC News. 14 November 2005. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  13. ^ Holden, Stephen."Maria Friedman: Master of a Thousand Sondheimian Disguises", The New York Times, 5 May 2006.
  14. ^ "Celebrates The Great British Songbook" Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine sepiarecords.com, retrieved 11 June 2010
  15. ^ a b c "Maria Friedman" Archived 14 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine musicaltheatrenews.com, accessed 8 November 2016
  16. ^ Gans, Andrew (13 June 2007). "Terfel, Friedman, Evans and Quast to Star in London Sweeney Todd". Playbill.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2007. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
  17. ^ "Eastenders Casts Maria Friedman as Linda Carter’s Mum" tellytoday, 18 September 2014
  18. ^ Shenton, Mark. "West End Transfer for Menier Chocolate Factory's 'Merrily We Roll Along' Confirmed" Playbill,
  19. ^ McPhee, Ryan. "Maria Friedman-Helmed 'Merrily We Roll Along', With London Stars and Eden Espinosa, Begins in Boston" Playbill, 8 September 2017
  20. ^ Culwell-Block, Logan (29 August 2023). "Upcoming Broadway Merrily We Roll Along Revival Sets Opening Night". Playbill. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  21. ^ "Full casting announced for Old Vic's High Society", WhatsOnStage.com, 20 March 2015
  22. ^ Mountford, Fiona. " 'Stepping Out, theatre review: Well-meaning revival takes step in wrong direction" Standard, 15 March 2017.
  23. ^ Interview with Friedman officiallondontheatre.co.uk, 10 December 2008
  24. ^ Saner, Emine "My toyboy stood by me" thisislondon.co.uk, 24 April 2006
  25. ^ Taylor, Paul. "Theatre / The Break of Day Royal Court, London" The Independent, 30 November 1995
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