Mary-Louise Parker and Bruce Willis hosted the nomination announcement for the 2015 Tony Awards. Given the fascination with two of the world’s most popular ‘royals,’ Queen Elizabeth ll and Dame Helen Mirren, England’s answer to our own Meryl Streep—albeit with a lot more sex appeal oozing from every pore—Mirren was nominated for a Tony in the Best Actress category for her performance as Queen Elizabeth in ‘The Audience.’ xxxxxx

While Mirren won England’s prestigious Oliver Award for this same role two years ago, and an Oscar for playing the Queen on film in 2007—talk about a cottage industry—whether or not she wins a Tony in this same category remains to be seen with the award ceremony June 7^th on CBS. Of course, Queens are born to rule, so she does have a good chance.

Adding some authoritative weight to the above pronouncement is the fact that Mirren has already been nominated by the Outer Critics Circle and the Drama Desk, in the same category, for her performance in ‘The Audience.’

On the other hand, ‘The Audience,’ currently at Broadway’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theater, is a by-the- numbers, mundane conceit if you will. So lurking in the shadows is the curse of Mary Queen of Scots—something one could lose their head over.

Obviously the calling card for ‘The Audience’ is the grand Dame Mirren, herself who, while leaping back and forth through the decades, seems to instantly and miraculously age, with a mere change of body language and costume, with each prime minister she meets during the play’s two-hour production.

Helen Mirren and the cast of ‘The Audience.”

Mirren’s supporting cast comprises a total of twelve British prime ministers, each of whom Elizabeth met with weekly, retrospectively, over her sixty-two years on the throne.

To ensure American audiences have a little background on these prime ministers, inserted into the program is a flyer providing and birth and death dates, time in office, and the important historical happenings during their individual tenures.

Rounding out the cast is the play’s narrator Geoffrey Beevers, whose job as a stately Equerry, is to introduce onto stage each of the ministers who had advised the QE 2 during her reign.

Sadie Sink and Elizabeth Teeter (right), alternatly play Elizabeth as a young girl, their presence highlighting the young, fun loving Elizabeth’s concern about the future duties awaiting her.

Along the way, we meet a surprisingly self-doubting John Major (Dylan Baker) in whom she confides “For the most part, I’ve found my ministers to be very human…all too human.“ She considered him a favorite—he is the only prime minister she invited to dinner at Balmoral Castle—in addition to the blue-collar labor leader, Harold Wilson (Richard McCabe).

Also appearing is David Cameron (Rufus Wright), who tells the Queen “You have a way of saying nothing yet making your view perfectly clear,” and Sir Anthony Eden (Michael Elwyn), whom she begs not to engage in war over the Suez Canal.

Newly added to this American production, for the purpose of shaking our more recent memories, is Tony Blair (Rufus Wright), most highly visible during the Bush and Clinton administrations. Here we see Elizabeth trying to stop Blair from sending British forces into the controversial war in Iraq.

Though playwright Peter Morgan does attempt to give each prime minister his or her own personality, few register strongly.

Left: Dakin Matthews (Winston Churchill) and Helen Mirren (QE 2)

The two prime ministers in this play with a theatrically-exciting bite—most likely in real life too—turned out to be Winston Churchill (Dakin Matthews) and Margaret Thatcher (Judith Ivey).

Matthew’s Churchill steals the scene from right under Mirren’s crown, as he instructs the very young, and still politically innocent, Elizabeth on how to go about her duties and responsibilities as Queen. At one point, Churchill tells the Queen that her role is to shut up, listening to him when she asks him what she is to do, during these weekly meetings.

Right: Richard McCabe (Harold Wilson), in an audience with the Queen.

Another riveting scene features a crazily bewigged Judith Ivey playing Thatcher, the no-nonsense, larger than life, Iron Lady, storming onto the stage, then proceeding to strong-arm the Queen by making a good case for sanctions against South Africa.

Since no records whatsoever are kept to document these weekly briefings—certainly none for public consumption—there is no way of telling fact from fiction. What we do have is historical fiction, lite. For those interested in historical fiction, heavy, Broadway’s Wolf Hall, Parts I and 2, is the go-to play.

This said, the joy of ‘The Audience’ is watching Mirren do her stuff. It is almost like having our own private audience with the queen.

By Edward Rubin, Contributing Writer

Production

A presentation by Matthew Byam Shaw, Robert Fox, Andy Harries, Beverly Bartner, Scott M. Delman, Ed Mirvish Enterprises Ltd., Stephanie McClelland, MSG WLE, Jon B. Platt, Carole Shorenstein Hays, The Shubert Organization, and Alice Tulchin, with associate producers Nick Salmon, Nia Janis, Marieke Spencer, and Georgia Gatti, of a play in two acts by Peter Morgan.

Creative

Directed by Stephen Daldry;

Sets- Rob Crowley;

Lighting- Rick Fisher;

Sound- Paul Arditti;

Original music- Paul Englishby;

Hair & makeup- Ivana Primorac;

Production stage manager- Jill Cordle.

Cast

Helen Mirren, with Dylan Baker, Geoffrey Beevers, Michael Elwyn, Judith Ivey, Dakin Matthews, Richard McCabe, Rod McLachlan, Sadie Sink, Elizabeth Teeter, Rufus Wright.