Sarah Beecham

 

Sonia Friedman

Maria Friedman

Nick and Emma

Emma and Gez

Richard

Molly Clair Carey – the newest addition to the Beecham/Carey clan

I also enjoy singing, and have even made a CD with a small Madrigal group. This small a cappella group enjoy singing at local events such as the Fringe at the Factory, and we have often sung at weddings. My favourite piece of music is the B minor Mass by JS Bach – it was the first choral work I sang and it hooked me for life.  I am currently a member of the University of Limerick Gospel Choir.

I try to keep fit – an uphill struggle, and have joined a local gym (which doesn’t mean I actually go; the lure was the Jacuzzi and the steam room), I cycle to and from work (but that is only about a 10 minute cycle ride) and do the occasional long walk.

Finally, lots of people ask me about my family. I am very proud of my siblings all of whom are very much in the lime light. My sister Sonia Friedman is a West End and Broadway producer with her own production company ‘Sonia Friedman Productions’ whose feet don’t touch the ground. I have lost count of the many theatres and productions she is involved in, let alone the many new plays she has brought to the West End and across the world. For more details see http://www.soniafriedman.com/about_us. My actress sister Maria Friedman is also well known as a singer in musicals for which she has won several Olivier awards. See http://www.aboutmaria.com/. She was lead in many London productions including Chicago and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Woman in White in the West End and on Broadway later in the year. My brother Richard Friedman has a classical background – his talent for the violin is no doubt something he inherited from our father, the late Leonard Friedman and our amazing multi-talented mother who is a composer, writer and pianist, historian, expert in fine art and Egyptology. Rick has led in several orchestras, and has been solo violinist on many CDs (e.g. https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=catalogdetail&valbum_code=743625077926. He is currently co-leading the Royal Ballet Sinfonia (The Orchestra of Birmingham Royal Ballet) http://www.brb.org.uk/ . He is the leader of both The New Queen’s Hall Orchestra and the European Festival Orchestra based in Switzerland. My youngest brother Ben graduated from Glasgow University with a 2.1 in English and after working with Ross Noble in the West End started his own production company.  His Edinburgh Festival debut won him a fringe first. He is now producing exciting programmes for the BBC and is based in Leeds.

I have two wonderful children, Emma and Nick – and I am very proud of them both. Emma is working at UCL as a Phychologist researching into Palliative Care, and Nick is very interested in music, IT and Arsenal.  Nick has joined the London West End theatre scene, first in front of house roles at the Duke of York’s, and now as Cellar Manager at the Picadilly Theatre and the Trafalgar.  Nick now tells me that Gordan’s gin is not the gin of choice, I should be drinking Hendricks. I continue to learn! He enjoys the mix of physical and mental effort required in this job. And when he isn’t running around the West End with crates of wine, beer and spirits, he is enjoying being with his girl-friend Chrissie in their Whitechapel apartment, Chrissie is an actress/singer/dancer with a love of food and fun; she is a wonderful support and friend to Nick.Emma has formed a firm relationship with Actor Gez Carey, who we welcome into the family… along with their most blessed offspring Molly. The new love of my life. Being a grandparent has brought me and Pete more joy that can be expressed on paper.

Last and not least, my husband Pete, a great friend and partner – who has been busy renovating a Victorian house convertion in N19 for the last year or so, and it is now a great place to live in central London. I love being so near to London’s theatres and museums – and hope one day to have the time to visit them!