With a string of awards to her name including three Olivier Awards and nine nominations, Evening Standard and Critics· Circle Awards, and many other theatre accolades both from the West End and Broadway stage, Maria Friedman is in demand as undoubtedly one of our most successful leading musical theatre ladies.

Having won an Olivier Award for her one-woman cabaret, Maria Friedman By Special Arrangement at the Donmar (1995), she was then awarded a second for Best Actress in a Musical as Fosca in the West End production of Stephen Sondheim’s Passion (1996) and again for Ragtime (2003). Most recently in the West End, Maria played Golde in the Menier’s production of Fiddler on the Roof directed by Trevor Nunn. She has also appeared in Merrily We Roll Along, Blues in the Night, Chicago, The Witches of Eastwick, Lady in the Dark, and played Anna in The King and I at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2004, she originated the role of Marian Halcombe in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Woman in White, both in the West End and on Broadway.

She is regularly associated with the work of the composer lyricist Stephen Sondheim. She has performed principal roles in Merrily We Roll Along, A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George and most recently Mrs. Lovett in concert performances of Sweeney Todd at the Barbican in 2010. She also appeared in New York, Washington, and the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, to celebrate Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday.

Maria appeared alongside Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, and Aretha Franklin at the memorial service for the late Marvin Hamlisch at the Juilliard School, New York. She had the pleasure of working very closely with the composer on the concert platform worldwide. In tribute to his music, she appeared in two concerts performances of One Singular Sensation on New Year’s Eve at the Avery Fischer Hall at New York’s Lincoln Center, accompanied by the New York Philharmonic alongside Liza Minnelli and Joel Gray, and again with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at the Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, with guest artists including ldina Menzel.

She has performed her critically acclaimed one woman shows Maria Friedman – By Special Arrangement and Maria Friedman – By Extra Special Arrangement in several venues both in the UK and New York City, including several seasons at the prestigious Cafe Carlyle. Maria has also performed From the Heart and Maria Friedman and Old Friends Celebrate Stephen Sondheim to sold-out audiences and rave reviews at Crazy Coqs in Piccadilly.

She can be heard on many cast recordings and has released several solo albums including: Maria Friedman, Maria Friedman Live, Now and Then and Maria Friedman Celebrates the Great British Songbook.

 On screen, Maria joined the cast of long-running soap EastEnders playing Elaine Peacock in 2014 and has also appeared as Trish Baynes in the popular TV series Casualty. She also appeared in an early series of Red Dwarf, and as the Narrator in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (DVD). She was most recently seen as the Mother Abbess in ITV’s The Sound of Music Live.

 In 2013, Maria made her directorial debut at the Menier Chocolate Factory with a production of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along. After a series of five-star reviews, the Critics· Circle Award for Best Musical and a sold-out extended run it transferred into the West End (where it was awarded the Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Musical and Maria was nominated for Best Director) and Boston and is scheduled to be performed in New York later this year. In 2015, Maria also directed a widely praised production of High Society at The Old Vic, the world premiere of the new musical Dusty at the Theatre Royal Bath and Stepping Out at the Vaudeville Theatre. She continues to direct internationally.

Hailed by The New York Times as one of “Broadway’s Electric Conductors,” Ellison is one of the most accomplished and sought after musicians working today.

Currently he has written a new collection of songs for an album released on iTunes and all the streaming platforms. “Crossing Rivers” is his first venture as a singer/songwriter. Todd is also the composer of the award-winning musical, The Black and White Ball, as well as The Canterville Ghost with Brendan Cull and the Music Supervisor/Arranger of the new Broadway bound musical Roman Holiday, Broadway credits include An American in Paris, Annie, La Cage aux Folles, Elton John’s Lestat, Spamalot, 42ndStreet, Amour, The Wild Party, On the Town, Once Upon a Mattress (starring Sarah Jessica Parker), How to Succeed…(starring Matthew Broderick), She Loves Me, Taller than a Dwarf (incidental music) and A Class Act.

In London’s West End, he was the Music Supervisor/Orchestrator of 42nd Street at the Drury Lane Theatre, supervised and conducted opening night of An American in Paris at the Dominion Theatre, supervised the Tokyo production, and the new Australian version opening in 2022.

He was the Music Director of the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular” at the famed Radio City Music Hall for several seasons. As Marvin Hamlisch’s Music Director, Ellison worked with him on Ballroom and The Nutty Professor directed by Jerry Lewis.

For City Center’s Encores! he conducted their acclaimed version of On The Town and The Bandwagon.

Internationally he has conducted at the Vienna Konzerthaus with Dawn Upshaw and Jerry Hadley, The Dublin Film Orchestra, Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Mexico City), World Science Festival-Lincoln Center, Cole Porters’ Jubilee at Carnegie Hall, the Pittsburgh Symphony, San Diego Symphony, The Philly Pops, Nashville Symphony, Long Beach Symphony, New Haven, New Jersey and York Symphonies.

He has conducted more than 20 albums including the Grammy Award winning cast albums of his shows. He has accompanied such stars as Beyoncé, Meryl Streep, Mike Nichols, Nicole Kidman, Barry Manilow, Bea Arthur, Jane Lynch, Tracey Ullman, Audra Mcdonald, Jane Krakowski, Alan Cumming, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Dawn Upshaw, Billy Porter, Kelsey Grammer and Elaine Stritch.

Raised on Melody Lane in Essex, Connecticut, Ellison began his piano lessons at age 6 and is a graduate of Boston University School of Music with a degree in piano performance. Todd is proud to be a Steinway Artist.