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Merrily she rolls along with a hit show set for West End

Award-winning performer is relishing her directorial debut

April 17, 2013 20:08
Olivier award winning Maria Friedman (Photo: Getty images)

By

John Nathan,

John Nathan

4 min read

It is the second day of rehearsals and one of the West End’s favourite leading ladies, Maria Friedman, is at the Harold Pinter Theatre singing every note and saying every word in Stephen Sondheim’s brilliant musical, Merrily We Roll Along.

But the three-times Olivier-award-winning actor/singer is not on stage — she’s in row D. And the singing and the saying is not being performed out loud, but in her head. From row G you can see the back of it, the tousled blonde hair tilting slightly to one side as she listens intently to her cast, Jenna Russell, Mark Umbers and Damian Humbley.

They play three old friends — Mary, Franklin and Charley — whose love for each other turns from sweet to sour. Except in Sondheim and George Furth’s musical, the story is told in reverse — from sour to sweet. And instead of performing the role of Mary, as she did in 1992, Ms Friedman is directing. This is both her first production and her first West End transfer. Not a bad directorial debut.

“Thank you everyone,” calls the stage manager. “It’s six o’clock,” a signal that the day has come to an end. Although the production has already garnered an award from the hard to please Critics’ Circle after it opened at the Menier Chocolate Factory in Southwark, Ms Friedman has countless crucial decisions to make in transferring the show from the wide, shallow stage at the Menier to the narrow, deeper space at the Harold Pinter, where previews begin next week.