Sonia Friedman

Sonia Friedman is a British West End and Broadway theatre producer, hailed as a Variety500 Honoree seven years in a row, as well as "the most powerful producer working in theater" by the New York Times in 2025. Friedman was also listed as one of Vogue’s 25 most influential women working today in 2025. On 27 January 2017, 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. In 2018, Friedman was featured in "TIME100", Time Magazine 100 Most Influential People of 2018 and was named Broadway Briefing's Show Person of the Year. In 2019, Sonia Friedman Productions was ranked The Stage 's most influential theatre producer in The Stage 100. Sonia Friedman CBE was featured in The Standard 100, a celebratory feature of the key power players shaping London in 2024.. As of June 2026, Sonia Friedman Productions has developed, initiated and led over 300 productions. As lead producer, SFP have won a record-breaking 74 Laurence Olivier Awards, 62 Tony Awards and 381 major theatre awards worldwide.

Early life Friedman is the youngest of four children of Clair Llewelyn (née Sims), a concert pianist, and violinist Leonard Freedman (who later changed his name to 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 was from a Russian-Jewish immigrant family, and her mother is English. She is the younger sister of the actress and director Maria Friedman, the great violinist Richard Friedman, and Dr Sarah Beecham.

Career 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. As of June 2026, Sonia Friedman Productions has developed, initiated and led over 300 productions. As lead producer, SFP have won a record-breaking 74 Laurence Olivier Awards, 62 Tony Awards and 381 major theatre awards worldwide.

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). In 2017, 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 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.

In 2018, Friedman was awarded the Equity Services to Theatre Award at the 18th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards, and was featured in Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Honours Friedman was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to theatre and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours, also for services to theatre.

Personal life She is the younger sister of director/actress/singer Maria Friedman, violinist Richard Friedman, and Sarah Beecham.

Theatre credits

Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1990) Tartuffe (1991) The Queen and I (1994) The Libertine (1995) Shopping and Fucking (1996) Blue Kettle / Heart's Desire (1997) The Steward of Christendom (1997) Three Sisters (1997) Spoonface Steinberg (1999) Speed the Plow (2000) Noises Off (2000) A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (2001) Benefactors (2002) Up For Grabs (2002) Afterplay (2002) What the Night Is For (2002) Macbeth (2002) Ragtime (2003) A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (2003), on Broadway Sexual Perversity in Chicago (2003) Absolutely! (Perhaps) (2003) Hitchcock Blonde (2003) See You Next Tuesday (2003) Jumpers (2003) Calico (2004) Endgame (2004) Guantánamo (2004) The Woman in White (2004) By the Bog of Cats (2005) Whose Life Is It Anyway? (2005) The Home Place (2005) As You Like It (2005) Shoot the Crow (2005) Celebration (2005) Otherwise Engaged (2005) The Woman in White (2005) on Broadway Donkeys' Years (2006) On the Third Day (2006) Eh Joe (2006) Bent (2006) Faith Healer (2006), on Broadway; nominated for a Best Revival Tony Award Love Song (2006) Rock 'n' Roll (2006) King of Hearts (2007) The Dumb Waiter (2007) Boeing-Boeing (2007) In Celebration (2007) Rock 'n' Roll (2007), on Broadway Is He Dead? (2007), on Broadway Donkeys' Years (2007) Hergé's Adventures of Tintin, a musical version of Tintin in Tibet (2007) Dealer's Choice (2007) Boeing-Boeing (2008), in Australia Boeing-Boeing (2008), on Broadway That Face (2008) Under the Blue Sky (2008) The Seagull (2008), on Broadway No Man's Land (2008) La Cage Aux Folles (2008) Maria Friedman: Re-Arranged (2008) Boeing-Boeing (2009), UK tour Dancing at Lughnasa (2009) A View from the Bridge (2009) A Little Night Music (2009) The Norman Conquests (2009), on Broadway The Mountaintop (2009) Arcadia (2009) Othello (2009) Prick Up Your Ears (2009) After Miss Julie (2009), on Broadway Legally Blonde (2009) A Little Night Music, on Broadway (2009) Jerusalem (2010) Private Lives (2010) The Prisoner of Second Avenue (2010) All My Sons (2010) A View from the Bridge (2010), on Broadway Shirley Valentine and Educating Rita (2010) La Bête (2010), and on Broadway A Flea in Her Ear (2010) La Cage aux Folles (2010) on Broadway The Children's Hour (2011) Clybourne Park (2011) Arcadia (2011), on Broadway Jerusalem (2011), on Broadway The Book of Mormon (2011), on Broadway Much Ado About Nothing (2011) Betrayal (2011) Top Girls (2011) La Cage Aux Folles (2011–12), US tour The Mountaintop (2011), on Broadway Jerusalem (2011–2012) Master Class (2012) Absent Friends (2012) Hay Fever (2012) Death of a Salesman (2012), on Broadway Nice Work If You Can Get It (2012–2013), on Broadway The Sunshine Boys (2012) A Chorus of Disapproval (2012–2013) Richard the Third (2012–2013) Twelfth Night (2012–2013) Old Times (2013) The Book of Mormon (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018) Merrily We Roll Along (2013) Chimerica (2013) The Sunshine Boys (2013), Los Angeles Twelfth Night & Richard III (2013), on Broadway Mojo (2013) Ghosts (2013) 1984 (2013) Shakespeare in Love (2014) King Charles III (2014) Electra, Frank McGuinness translation (2014) Sunny Afternoon (2014) The River (2014), on Broadway The Nether (2014) Ghosts (2013), New York Bend It Like Beckham (2015) 1984 (2015) Hamlet (2015) Farinelli and the King (2015) King Charles III (2015), on Broadway A Christmas Carol (2015) Funny Girl (2016) 1984 (2016) Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016, 2017, 2018) Sunny Afternoon UK Tour (2016) Nice Fish (2016) Dreamgirls (2016, 2017, 2018) The Glass Menagerie (2017) Travesties (2017) Funny Girl UK Tour (2017) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2017) The Ferryman (2017), at Royal Court Theatre Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (2017) The Ferryman (2017, 2018), at Gielgud Theatre Hamlet (2017), at Harold Pinter Theatre 1984 (2017), New York Ink (2017/2018), at Duke of York's Theatre Farinelli and the King (2017, 2018), in New York The Birthday Party (2018), at Harold Pinter Theatre Mean Girls (2018), in New York Travesties (2018), in New York Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2018) in New York Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2019) in Melbourne The Ferryman (2018), at Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in New York The Jungle (2018), at Playhouse Theatre Consent (2018), at the Harold Pinter Theatre The Inheritance (2018), at the Noel Coward Summer and Smoke (2018), at Duke of York's Theatre The Jungle (2018), at St. Ann's Warehouse, New York All About Eve (2019), at the Noel Coward Fiddler on the Roof (2019), at The Playhouse Theatre Rosmersholm (2019), at Duke of York's Theatre The Jungle (2019), at San Francisco's Curran Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2019) in San Francisco The Book of Mormon (2019-2020), UK & European tour The Inheritance (2019), at Ethel Barrymore Theater, New York Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2020) in Hamburg Uncle Vanya (2020), at Harold Pinter Theatre Leopoldstadt (2020), at Harold Pinter Theatre Dreamgirls UK Tour from 2021 The Comeback (2020), at Noël Coward Theatre Walden (2021), RE:EMERGE Season at Harold Pinter Theatre J'Ouvert (2021), RE:EMERGE Season at Harold Pinter Theatre Anna X (2021), RE:EMERGE Season at Harold Pinter Theatre The Shark Is Broken (2021), at The Ambassadors Theatre To Kill a Mockingbird (2022), at Gielgud Theatre Jerusalem (2022), at Apollo Theatre Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2022), in Toronto Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2023), in Tokyo, Japan Oklahoma! (2022), at the Young Vic Theatre The 47th (2022), at The Old Vic Mean Girls (2022), US Tour Jerusalem (2022), at the Apollo Theatre Funny Girl (2022), on Broadway Merrily We Roll Along (2022), at The New York Theatre Workshop Hamlet (2022), at Park Avenue Armory Oresteia (2022), at Park Avenue Armory Eureka Day (2022), at The Old Vic The Piano Lesson (2022), at St James Theatre Leopoldstadt (2022), at Longacre Theatre Funny Girl US tour (from 2023) Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! (2023), at Wyndham's Theatre Patriots (2023), at Noël Coward Theatre New York, New York (2023), at St James Theatre The Secret Life of Bees (2023), at the Almeida Dr Semmelweis (2023), at Harold Pinter Theatre Merrily We Roll Along (2023), at Hudson Theatre The Shark Is Broken (2023), at John Golden Theatre Lyonesse (2023) at Harold Pinter Theatre Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a co-production with Netflix (2023), at Phoenix Theatre The Hills of California (2024), at Harold Pinter Theatre Mean Girls (2024), at Savoy Theatre Patriots (2024), at Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway Stereophonic (2024), at John Golden Theatre Here There Are Blueberries (2024), at New York Theatre Workshop Fangirls (2024), at Lyric Hammersmith Shifters (2024), at Duke of York's Theatre The Hills of California (2024), at Broadhurst Theatre Oedipus (2024), at Wyndham's Theatre Juno and the Paycock (2024), at Gielgud Theatre Bust (2025), at Alliance Theatre and Goodman Theatre Millions (2025), at Alliance Theatre The Years (2025), at Harold Pinter Theatre The Shark is Broken (2025), UK and Ireland tour Manhunt (2025), at Royal Court Stranger Things: The First Shadow (2025), at Marquis Theatre Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes (2025), at Audible's Minetta Lane Theatre Creditors (2025), at Audible's Minetta Lane Theatre Mrs. Warren's Profession (2025), at Garrick Theatre Stereophonic (2025), at Duke of York's Theatre Dead Outlaw (2025), at Longacre Theatre Sunny Afternoon (2025), UK tour The Importance of Being Earnest (2025), at Noël Coward Theatre Stereophonic (2025), US tour Oedipus (2025), Broadway Paddington The Musical (2025), at Savoy Theatre Mean Girls (2025/2026), UK & Ireland tour John Proctor is the Villain (2026), at Royal Court 1536 (2026), at Ambassadors Theatre Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes (2026), at Audible's Minetta Lane Theater What Happened Was... (2026), at Audible's Minetta Lane Theater New Born (2026), at Audible's Minetta Lane Theater Arcadia (2026), at The Duke of York's Theatre Thelma & Louise (2026), at Young Vic Theatre Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2026), at @sohoplace Rent (2025), West End The Cherry Orchard (2026), at Harold Pinter Theatre The Lives of Others (2026), at Adelphi Theatre The Popinjay Cavalier (2027), West End John Proctor is the Villain (2027), at Wyndham's Theatre Dreamgirls (2026), Broadway

TV and film credits Wolf Hall (2015) The Dresser (2015) King Lear (2018) Uncle Vanya (2020) J'Ouvert (2021) Together (2021) Merrily We Roll Along (2025) A Friend Called Dorothy (2025)

Awards

Lifetime Achievement Golden Plate Award, 2026

Olivier Awards PADDINGTON The Musical, Best New Musical, 2026 Oedipus, Best Revival, 2025 Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Best New Entertainment/Comedy Play, 2024 Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, Best Musical Revival, 2023 Leopoldstadt, Best New Play, 2020 Fiddler on the Roof, Best Musical Revival, 2020 The Inheritance, Best New Play, 2019 Summer and Smoke, Best Revival, 2019 The Ferryman, Best New Play, 2018 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Best New Play, 2017 Sunny Afternoon, Best New Musical, 2015 King Charles III, Best New Play, 2015 The Book of Mormon, Best New Musical, 2014 Chimerica, Best New Play, 2014 Ghosts, Best Revival, 2014 Merrily We Roll Along, Best Musical Revival, 2014 Legally Blonde, Best New Musical, 2011 The Mountaintop, Best New Play, 2010 La Cage Aux Folles, Best Musical Revival, 2009

Tony Awards Eureka Day, Best Revival of a Play, 2025 Merrily We Roll Along, Best Revival of a Musical, 2024 Stereophonic, Best Play, 2024 Leopoldstadt, Best Play, 2023 The Inheritance, Best Play, 2020–21 The Ferryman, Best Play, 2019 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Best Play, 2018 A View from the Bridge, Best Revival of a Play, 2016 The Humans, Best Play, 2016 A Raisin in the Sun, Best Revival of a Play, 2014 Death of a Salesman, Best Revival of a Play, 2012 The Book Of Mormon, Best Musical, 2011 La Cage Aux Folles, Best Revival of a Musical, 2010 The Norman Conquests, Best Revival of a Play, 2009 Boeing-Boeing, Best Revival of a Play, 2008

Bafta Television Awards Drama Series, Together, 2022 Drama Series, Wolf Hall, 2016

The Stage Awards Producer of the year, Sonia Friedman, 2019 Producer of the year, Sonia Friedman, 2017 Producer of the year, Sonia Friedman, 2016 Producer of the year, Sonia Friedman, 2015

Evening Standard Awards Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, Best Musical, 2022 The Inheritance, Best Play, 2018 The Ferryman, Best Play, 2017 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Best Play, 2016 Jerusalem, Best Play, 2009 Home Place, Brian Friel, Best Play, 2005

Drama Desk Awards Eureka Day, Outstanding Revival of a Play, 2025 Stereophonic, Outstanding Play, 2024 The Piano Lesson, Outstanding Revival of a Play, 2023 Leopoldstadt, Outstanding Play, 2023 The Inheritance, Outstanding Play, 2020 The Ferryman, Outstanding Play, 2019 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Outstanding New Broadway Play, 2018 Death of a Salesman, Outstanding Revival of a Play, 2012 The Book of Mormon, Outstanding Musical, 2011 La Cage aux Folles, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, 2010 A View From the Bridge, Outstanding Revival of a Play, 2010 The Norman Conquests, Outstanding Revival of a Play, 2009 Boeing-Boeing, Outstanding Revival of a Play, 2008

Critics' Circle Awards PADDINGTON The Musical, Best New Musical, 2026 Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, Best Musical, 2023 Patriots, Best New Play, 2023 The Inheritance, Best New Play, 2018 The Ferryman, Best New Play, 2017 Bend It Like Beckham, Best Musical, 2015 King Charles III, Best New Play, 2014 Chimerica, Best New Play, 2013 Merrily We Roll Along, Best Musical, 2012 Clybourne Park, Best New Play, 2011 Jerusalem, Best New Play, 2010 La Cage Aux Folles, Best Musical, 2009

WhatsOnStage Awards PADDINGTON The Musical, Best New Musical, 2026 Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, Best Musical Revival, 2023 The Inheritance, Best New Play, 2019 Sonia Friedman, Equity Services to Theatre Award, 2018 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Best West End Show, 2018 The Ferryman, Best New Play, 2018 Hamlet, Best Play Revival, 2018 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Best New Play, 2017 Funny Girl, Best Musical Revival, 2017 Hamlet, Best Play Revival, 2016 Shakespeare in Love, Best New Play, 2015 The Book of Mormon, Best New Musical, 2014 Twelfth Night, Best Shakespearean Production, 2013 Much Ado About Nothing, David Tennant and Catherine Tate reuniting on stage, Theatre Event of the Year, 2012 Much Ado About Nothing, Best Shakespearean Production, 2012 Legally Blonde, by Nell Benjamin, Lawrence O’Keefe & Heather Hach, Best New Musical, 2011 Jerusalem, by Jez Butterworth, Best New Play, 2010 Under The Blue Sky, by David Eldridge, Best New Play, 2009 Rock ‘n’ Roll, by Tom Stoppard, Best New Play, 2007 Up For Grabs, Madonna's West End debut, Theatre Event of the Year, 2003 A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Best Play Revival, 2002

Black British Theatre Awards Shifters, Best Production - Play, 2025

South Bank Sky Arts Awards Uncle Vanya, 2021 The Inheritance, 2019 The Jungle, 2018 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, 2017 King Charles III, 2015

Outer Critics Circle Awards Stereophonic, Best Play, David Adjmi, 2024 Stereophonic, Outstanding New Broadway Play, David Adjmi, 2024 Leopoldstadt, Outstanding New Broadway Play, 2023 The Inheritance, Outstanding New Broadway Play, 2020 The Ferryman, Outstanding New Broadway Play, 2019 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Outstanding New Broadway Play, 2018

New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards Stereophonic, Best Play, 2024 Merrily We Roll Along, Special Citation, 2024 The Ferryman, Best Play, 2019

Drama League Awards Merrily We Roll Along, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, 2024 Leopoldstadt, Outstanding Production of a Play, 2023 The Inheritance, Outstanding Production of a Play, 2020 The Ferryman, Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play, 2019 Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play, 2018