BWW Exclusive: Diary of an Englishman in New York, with THE AUDIENCE's Rufus Wright!

By: Mar. 10, 2015
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Academy Award winner Helen Mirren returns to Broadway as Elizabeth II in Peter Morgan's The Audience, which just opened at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Playing one of Her Majesty's twelve Prime Ministers is Rufus Wright, who takes his audience with the Queen nightly as the UK's current PM, David Cameron.

Follow along as Wright takes us behind the scenes of The Audience's Broadway journey with 'Diary of an Englishman in New York'. Be sure to check back weekly for his latest installments!

Follow Rufus on Twitter (@rufusgwright) for even more updates!

In rehearsal with Helen Mirren

18th February 2015
An English Prime Minister in New York

The Audience, currently playing at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on W 45th St, tells the story of the Queen's weekly meetings with her Prime Ministers.

Reprising her Oscar and Olivier winning role is Dame Helen Mirren, and sharing the stage with her are nine of her Prime Ministers, from Winston Churchill to David Cameron. Four of these PMs are played by Brits making their Broadway debuts. By night, we attempt to unravel the enigma at the centre of British life: the relationship between Crown and State. By day, we attempt to decipher the subway and how to get to Brooklyn at weekends. None of us are sure which is more complex.

As Englishmen (and one Welshman) in New York, we look typecast. Geoffrey is Her Majesty's Equerry, impeccably turned out in epaulettes and gold braid. Michael is Sir Anthony Eden, Churchill's great rival and successor, dressed elegantly in 1950s top hat and tails. And I am David Cameron. You know- the red faced puppy always trying to get a selfie with Obama. And Tony Blair. Who may be the only PM a lot of people could pick out of a line up.

We were lucky enough to be a big hit in the West End. People queued from the early hours for tickets- desperate to see Helen's extraordinary performance, and her encounters with a string of Prime Ministers described in the play as 'basically all mad'. But when the show's transfer to Broadway was announced, many people at home asked the same question: 'Will the Americans go for it?' Some of the crueler ones asked: 'Will they care?' A couple even: 'Why would they?'

Well, we'll see. The personal travails of Harold Wilson (Prime Minister 1964-1970, '74-'76) and John Major (1990-1997) would be unlikely ever to be a hot topic in a diner in Hell's Kitchen. But New Yorkers love a show, and they love star quality. And throw in a couple of enormous diamond encrusted frocks and a couple of corgis, and we reckon we'll have you waving Union Jacks by the end. And possibly giving us a lift home to Brooklyn.

Backstage with Richard McCabe and Geoffrey Beevers.

25th February 2015
Searching for egg cups in Manhattan

Now playing at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre is The Audience, which tells the story of the Queen's weekly meetings with her Prime Ministers, from Winston Churchill to David Cameron. Helen Mirren plays the Queen and 4 of the PMs are played by Brits making their Broadway debuts.

No one told us it would be THIS cold. Of course, one imagines that London looks exactly like "A Christmas Carol" when it snows, with rosy faced urchins pressing their noses against frosted windows, and generous gentlemen in frock coats doling out shillings to cap-doffing chimney sweeps. It doesn't. The city grinds to a halt, the tube packs up and it's chaos. New York seems to carry on pretty much as normal. Which considering it's colder than THE NORTH POLE is pretty amazing to us.

We're missing a few home comforts though. One of the most celebrated advertising slogans of the 1950s in Britain was 'Go To Work On An Egg', and to complete a day of drudgery and toil in the Grey Britain of the time, a red blooded Englishman required eggs, one, and an egg cup, one. Two of the Prime Ministers appearing in The Audience have been scouring Manhattan for nearly a month trying to find egg cups. We've been told they are 'out of fashion' and scarce. New Yorkers are known for their fashion sense, but surely the humble runny yolk egg should be immune?

Macy's and Bloomingdale's have been ransacked to no avail. The best solution seems to be provided by the souvenir shops. Alongside the thousands of Statues of Liberty (we're ok with that, right? Along with Attorneys General and Courts Martial) is the simple 'I heart NY' shot glass, which will double as an egg cup to the desperate Englishman abroad. So for the moment, Sir Anthony Eden (Prime Minister 1955-57) must eat his boiled egg from a $1.99 shot glass. It's lucky he hearts NY.

Rufus trained at The Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He created the part of David Cameron in the West End production of The Audience and previously worked with Peter Morgan on the original Donmar Warehouse production of Frost/Nixon and in the filmThe Special Relationship. Other theatre credits include: The 39 Steps (Criterion), The One, The Backroom (Soho Theatre) The Empire (Royal Court), Serious Money, The Madness of George III (Birmingham Rep), Private Lives (Hampstead), Crown Matrimonial (Guildford and Tour), Mary Stuart (Donmar Warehouse and Apollo), Journey's End (Duke of York's), Trust Byron, Life With an Idiot and Franziska (The Gate), Single Spies (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Secret Garden (Salisbury Playhouse), and Richard II (London Pleasance)


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