Occupation Theatre producer Nephews Toby Sams | Name Sonia Friedman Years active 1988–present | |
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Full Name Sonia Anne Primrose Freedman Education Central School of Speech and Drama Siblings Maria Friedman, Ben Friedman, Richard Friedman, Sarah Beecham Parents Leonard Friedman, Clair Sims Organizations founded Sonia Friedman Productions Similar People Maria Friedman, Scott M Delman, Roger Berlind, Daryl Roth, Scott Rudin | ||
The Inheritance Interview with the Producers
Sonia Anne Primrose Friedman OBE (née Freedman; born April 1965) is a British West End and Broadway theatre producer. On 27 January 2017 Sonia Friedman, was named Producer of the Year for the third year running at The Stage Awards, becoming the first person to win the award three times.
Contents
- The Inheritance Interview with the Producers
- Sonia Friedman Full QA at The Oxford Union
- Early life
- Theatre Producer
- TV Producer
- TV credits
- BAFTA Television Awards
- Tony Awards
- Olivier Awards
- Evening Standard Theatre Awards
- Drama Desk Awards
- Critics Circle Theatre Awards
- Whatsonstagecom Awards
- The Stage Awards
- Personal life
- References
Sonia Friedman | Full Q&A at The Oxford Union
Early life
Friedman is the youngest daughter of Clair Llewelyn Friedman (née Sims), a concert pianist, and the eminent Russian violinist Leonard Friedman, who was leader of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Thomas Beecham and co-founder of many national institutions including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Scottish Baroque Ensemble. Her father is from a Russian Jewish immigrant family and her mother is English.
Friedman was educated at several schools including St Christopher School, Letchworth, Hertfordshire, and trained as a stage manager at the Central School of Speech and Drama. It was after organising a couple of benefits for World Aids Day during the late 1980s (one of which saw over 200 celebrities working as shop assistants in Covent Garden) that she decided to follow a career as a theatre producer.
Theatre Producer
After working at the National Theatre between 1988 and 1993 (fulfilling the various roles of stage management, Education Manager, Head of Education and Producer of Mobile Productions and Theatre for Young People), she co-founded the new writing theatre company Out of Joint in 1993 with Max Stafford-Clark. From 1998, Friedman worked as a producer for the Ambassador Theatre Group. She launched her own theatre company, Sonia Friedman Productions, in 2002. Friedman's productions have been nominated for and won numerous Olivier, Tony and other awards. At the 2014 Olivier Awards, Sonia Friedman Productions made Olivier Awards history by winning the most awards for any producer and for winning prizes for Best New Play (Chimerica), Best New Musical (The Book of Mormon), Best Play Revival (Ghosts) and Best Musical Revival (Merrily We Roll Along).
Friedman was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to theatre.
In 2017, Sonia Friedman won producer of the year at The Stage Awards for a third year (becoming the first person to win the award three times) and was listed as no.1 on the The Stage power list, the second solo female to hold this position in the award's history and becoming the first person to top the list that wasn't a theatre owner.
SFP productions and co-productions received an unprecedented 31 nominations in the 2017 Olivier Awards – including a record-breaking 11 for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – the most nominated new play in Olivier history. The show went on to win 9 Olivier Awards – the most ever for one production.
TV Producer
In 2015 Sonia Friedman Productions co-produced two television dramas, the BAFTA Nominated The Dresser which aired on BBC Two and directly followed after SFP's partnership with Playground Entertainment on the six-part mini-series adaptation of Hilary Mantel's 'Wolf Hall' which also aired on BBC Two in January 2015 and won two BAFTA Television Awards in 2016.
TV credits
BAFTA Television Awards
Tony Awards
Olivier Awards
Evening Standard Theatre Awards
Drama Desk Awards
Critics' Circle Theatre Awards
Whatsonstage.com Awards
The Stage Awards
Personal life
She is the younger sister of director/actress/singer Maria Friedman, violinist Richard Friedman and Dr Sarah Beecham. Her younger brother, Ben, is a television director (currently director / producer of The Great British Bake Off).