Maria Friedman Will Star in European Premiere of Kimberly Akimbo

Michael Longhurst will direct the Tony-winning musical at London's Hampstead.

April 16, 2026 By Andrew Gans, Logan Culwell-Block

Michael Longhurst and Maria Friedman (Genevieve Girling)

Three-time Olivier-winning actor Maria Friedman, who directed the Tony-winning Broadway revival of currently Merrily We Roll Along, will star in the title role of the European premiere of the Tony-winning musical Kimberly Akimbo.

Michael Longhurst (Constellations; Caroline, or Change) will direct the David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori musical, which will play the Hampstead Theatre August 28–November 7 with an official opening September 9. Additional casting and creative team members will be announced at a later date.

In a statement Friedman said, “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be bringing Kimberly Levaco to life. She’s such a beautifully complex character—full of hope, humor, and this fierce determination to live every moment to the fullest, even when time isn’t on her side. It’s rare to find a role that is this funny, heartbreaking, and life-affirming all at once, and I feel incredibly lucky to step into her world.”

Director Longhurst added, “An eight-time Olivier Award nominee and three-time winner, Maria Friedman is unquestionably one of our greats—so I am over the moon that she is returning to the stage to lead my production of Kimberly Akimbo—a match made in heaven for Jeanine Tesori’s Tony-winning score, and David Lindsay-Abaire’s Tony-winning book. Maria’s indomitable spirit, world renown vocals, and comic elan will offer an unforgettable portrayal of this beautifully unique character in this life-affirming entertainment.”

Kimberly Akimbo premiered Off-Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company before moving to Broadway in 2022, ultimately winning Best Musical at the 2023 Tony Awards. The show won five Tonys in total. Based on Lindsay-Abaire's 2000 play of the same name, the work follows Kimberly Levaco, a New Jersey teenager with a rare disorder that causes her to age four times faster than normal. Lindsay-Abaire wrote the Tony-winning book from his earlier script, along with penning lyrics to Tesori's music for the Tony-winning score. Victoria Clark won her second Tony for her performance in the musical's title role.

Friedman made her Broadway debut in 2005 starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Woman in White, but she's spent the majority of her stage career in London's West End. Among her major roles there are Dot in the first London Sunday in the Park With George, Mary in Merrily We Roll Along, Fosca in Passion (Olivier Award), Sukie in The Witches of Eastwick, Roxie in Chicago, Mother in Ragtime (Olivier Award), Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, and Golde in Fiddler on the Roof. She also played the Narrator in the screen version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Mother Abbess in the U.K.'s The Sound of Music Live!

Friedman first directed Merrily We Roll Along for Menier Chocolate Factory in 2012, and the production's West End transfer won Best Musical Revival at the 2014 Olivier Awards. The Broadway revival, marking Friedman's Broadway directorial debut, earned her a Tony nomination for her direction, and the production also won the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical.

Tickets are on sale at HampsteadTheatre.com.