After cancelling her much-anticipated Odessa, TX run in Gypsy, Maria Friedman has signed on to repeat her West End role in the Broadway production of The Woman in White.Friedman, who had been scheduled to play the epic role of Rose in Gypsy, reportedly was scared off by tales of producer Tony Georges, according to the London Daily Mail. The Mail has it that Friedman was disheartened by hearing of Betty Buckley's experience in a now-cancelled staging of Sweeney Todd, which was also to play the Ector Theatre. Georges had cast his mother and hairdresser in the macabre Sondheim classic; Friedman's reps advised her against the production.Friedman is a bona fide West End star and a two-time Olivier Award winner--for her one woman show Maria Friedman--By Special Arrangement and for her performance as Fosca in Passion. The winner of an Evening Standard Award for her portrayal of Liza Elliott in the Royal National Theatre's Lady in the Dark, Friedman was also nominated for playing Dot in Sunday in the Park with George and Roxie Hart in Chicago. Other West End credits include Ragtime, The Witches of Eastwick, The Break of Day, April in Paris and Merrily We Roll Along.
The Woman in White will mark Friedman's Broadway debut; she originated the role of Marian (now played by Ruthie Henshall) in the West End production, which was produced by her sister Sonia Friedman. With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by David Zippel and a book by Charlotte Jones, The Woman in White is a $10 million+ romantic gothic musical based on the novel by Wilkie Collins; its extensive use of projections as sets has attracted much notice, as well. The Woman in White will open on Broadway on November 17th, 2005.
