Producer Sonia Friedman has snagged the top spot on this year’s Stage 100, The BBC reports. Compiled by theater publication The Stage, the list identifies the UK’s most influential powerhouses in the performing arts. Friedman’s inclusion — and ranking — come as no surprise considering that her recent credits include West End sensation “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” as well as hits such as “Dreamgirls,” “Nice Fish,” and “Funny Girl.”
Friedman is “the first number one in the history of the Stage 100 not to own or operate West End theaters,” BBC writes. She is the second woman to top the list as a solo entry, following Stoll Moss Theatres boss Janet Holmes à Court, who took the top spot in in 1998.
“I feel extremely lucky to do a job I love so much and to have had such a stimulating and creatively diverse year,” Friedman said.
Alistair Smith, print editor of The Stage, commented: “Sonia Friedman has enjoyed a number of notable hits in recent years — including ‘Jerusalem’ starring Mark Rylance and ‘The Book of Mormon’ — but in 2016, she went stratospheric.” He continued, “‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ was always likely to be a license to print money. What has made it really special was that Friedman and her fellow creatives resisted the temptation to treat the production as a cash cow and created something truly magical, original and — above all — theatrical.”
“I fell in love with theater when I was about 13,” Friedman has revealed. Her sister appeared in “Oklahoma!” at the Palace Theatre and invited Friedman to watch her performance from the wings. “I sat on a stool in the prompt corner and soon realized I was much more interested in what was going on behind the scenes,” she recalled. “Eventually I tried to sign up for an evening class in make-up, but it was full. They convinced me to take stage management and swap to make-up if anybody dropped out. But I fell in love with stage management.”
Friedman is an eight-time Tony Award winner and was named Producer of the Year by The Stage Awards in 2015 and 2016.
