Maria Friedman Recalls Donny Osmond's 'Hilarious Stories' About Osmonds Band While Making 'Joseph' Musical Film (Exclusive)

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28-04-2025

Maria Friedman reminisced to PEOPLE about working with Donny Osmond on during the opening night of
"We have seen each other over the years, absolutely," said the theater vet, calling Osmond "a gorgeous guy"
Osmond later appeared in a live production of as Pharaoh last year, after first playing the title role on stage and, later, in a 1999 movie adaptation
Maria Friedman has fond memories of working with the "gorgeous" Donny Osmond on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
The actress, singer and director was in attendance during the opening night of Broadway's Real Women Have Curves in New York City on Sunday, April 27, where she opened up to PEOPLE about her time making 1999's Joseph with Osmond, 67.
"I remember Donny Osmond always telling hilarious stories about when he was in The Osmonds," says Friedman, 65, referring to her former costar's famous family band that also consisted of his brothers Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay Osmond.
The Merrily We Roll Along director also reflected on what she learned in making the movie adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's beloved stage musical, in which she played the Narrator alongside Osmond's titular Joseph.
"I just remember the ensemble thing, and also how I got to learn about cameras," she tells PEOPLE. "Because it was filmed ... we recorded it but we had a very short rehearsal period, so I had to really understand technique of getting into the camera and making sure I was in frame."
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Related: Donny and Marie Osmond's Siblings: All About Their Brothers
According to Friedman, "Because you didn't get a second ... [with] 20 people, you've got to find the frame. So it taught me a lot."
First presented as a stage production in 1972 with Bill Hutton in the title role, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is based on Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis and was Webber, 77, and book/lyrics writer Tim Rice's first musical to be performed publicly.
And more than 25 years after the movie version's release, Friedman tells PEOPLE that she and Osmond "have exchanged texts and emails," but don't often connect in person these days.
"We have seen each other over the years, absolutely," she adds. "I haven't worked with him or seen him [lately], but he's a gorgeous guy."
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Related: Donny Osmond Doesn't Think He Could Do Another Osmond Family Christmas Show: 'It Was a Different Time' (Exclusive)
Meanwhile, Joseph runs deep in Osmond's veins. After first playing the title role on stage in the early to mid '90s and, later, in the 1999 film, he returned to the production last year in the villainous role of Pharaoh at the Edinburgh Playhouse in Scotland.
Osmond spoke with PEOPLE late last year amid his Joseph run in Scotland, which began with performances on Dec. 3 and concluded on Dec. 29.
He admitted that it can feel "pretty bizarre ... to hear someone else doing the material you did for six years, 2,000 performances and more." (He even started singing a Joseph line by accident one night!) But he's "good" with his evolution now.
"Opening night it was like, 'What is this going to be like?' " Osmond told PEOPLE at the time. "And as soon as they set me down on the chair on stage and the lights came up, the applause and ovation ... it was absolutely amazing. And then when Joseph comes out and ['Poor Poor Joseph'] began, I looked at the audience and I said, 'Déjà vu!' "
Read the original article on People