Breast cancer doesn't stop 'Woman in White' star Maria Friedman

Days after undergoing surgery for breast cancer, Maria Friedman was back on Broadway in the lead of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Woman in White."

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Friedman received a standing ovation Thursday night for her stellar performance in the $8.5 million musical at New York's Marquis Theater, the New York Times reported Saturday.

Only 10 days before the opening, Friedman, 45, had been diagnosed with breast cancer and three days later, she had surgery to remove a malignant lump the size of a marble from her left breast.

Friedman, a British actress making her first appearance on Broadway, said it was never a question of whether or not to go on.

"We have a deadline, a committed company, a lot of people's livelihoods riding on this show," she said.

Heavily bandaged with a doctor standing in the wings, she was onstage for nearly every scene Thursday -- dancing, running, fighting and performing lengthy vocal solos, the Times said.

She admitted the feat was brutal and the pain intense.

"It's like a large elephant sat on me," she told the Times.

Friedman said she plans on continuing in the show through her seven-week cycle of radiation, scheduled to begin next month.