BWW Exclusive: Diary of an Englishman in New York- Not Remotely a Tourist

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!

Not remotely a tourist

Two people asked me for directions yesterday. On both occasions I was very proud to be able to help them.

Since arriving in NY in January, I've been living a paradox. I have a social security number, put a month at a time on my Metrocard and have loyalty cards for 3 different coffee shops named after Scandinavian cities. But I'm still spending my time gawping with wonder at the Chrysler, gazing at billboards in Times Square (and buying everything I'm told to) and pinching myself that I'm actually living in the great and brave city of New York.

But now I must be giving off the air of someone who lives in the city. Perhaps when I look at the map of the subway I no longer see a plate of multicoloured spaghetti and I see the beauty in it. Giving directions on the London Underground can take a while: 'take the Waterloo and City line Eastbound and change onto the Docklands Light Railway heading to Pudding Mill Lane'. It's such a timesaver being able to say 'Take the 1. Up.' Thank God the maps I consult on an almost hourly basis are mainly on my phone. The last time I was in New York a gust of wind up 5th Ave blew the 5 foot square map I was holding over my face and body and I looked like- well, if you went to a fancy dress party as an idiot tourist, that would have been me.

The amount of sheer choice is baffling to an Englishman. In my local bagel store in Brooklyn, there must be 15 different types of bagel to choose from. Back home, the only choice is 'For heaven's sake. Do you want a bagel or don't you?'

'Starting to look like a New Yorker' must be a thing. Confident, obviously. Able to choose between 15 types of bagel while 5 impatient people queue behind you. Let's just hope we're starting to fit in.

Having a British accent in New York is a mixed blessing. As the four British actors making their Broadway debuts in The Audience opposite Helen Mirren are discovering.

For every bookstore employee to whom our rounded vowels sound like Charles Dickens resurrected, there's a taxi driver who needs the address spelled out three times, mimed, and pointed to on a map with the business end of a City umbrella. If this fails, and yesterday it did me, the next step is to speak with brio in a broad New York accent to see if that works. Once they've stopped looking at me like some sort of shape shifter from Star Trek, there's usually a 'Well, why didn't ya say?' Before we speed off.

This isn't the only time I've put on my best imitation of my Broadway hosts. Automated call answering services and Siri seem to respond better to a U.S. accent. I have been seen on the phone in the dressing room, dressed and made up as Britain's current Prime Minister- the millionaire Old Etonian David Cameron- and barking 'Lorst Metro-card, for pity's sake' into my phone repeatedly. Then looking carefully over my shoulder, cupping the phone to my mouth and saying- while ACTUALLY DOING THE FACE- the same phrase, as De Niro in Taxi Driver. But at least I'm pretty sure I'll get through.

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)