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BWW Exclusive: Diary of an Englishman in New York- Tony Night
By: Rufus Wright Jun. 09, 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 later this week for his latest installment!
Follow Rufus on Twitter (@rufusgwright) for even more updates!
8th June 2015
Tony Night
For an actor, winning an Olivier means being really really good at acting, in London. You do really good acting in a really good play and then a few months later (most actors forget when the Oliviers are), if you're lucky they give you a really cool bust of Lord Olivier as Henry V and you don't work for the next six months. Only joking- although like any award there's always that counter-intuitive risk.
But Broadway is all about the Tonys. Your season runs from September to June to reflect the buzz created by the awards and the attendant ticket sales. Over 30 shows have opened on Broadway while we've been here with The Audience. Over July and August it's around three or four.
Giving a good performance is only the start- getting a nomination is like someone giving you an appointments diary that's already been filled in for you. Endless lunches, cocktail receptions, line ups, photo opportunities, meet the press and of course, meet the judges. And much worse for the women than the men. The guys can fish their Good Suit out of the closet and borrow a tie from the concierge. My friend Lydia Leonard, nominated as Best Featured Actress in Wolf Hall, had to find/ beg/ borrow at least half a dozen different outfits for the different events in the run up. And jewellery. And had to pitch up at 10am in a cocktail dress and flawless make up and hair. I met up with her as she changed with relief into a pair of flat shoes in Madison Square Park. She'd been lent some diamonds but said:
'Is it OK to wear diamonds at ten in the morning?'
Which sums up the Tonys perfectly.
Our producers Playful very kindly threw a Tonys party for us in an English pub in Midtown. They are the co producers on Wolf Hall and the two casts know each other well so it worked perfectly.
The first award of the night was Best Actress. We knew Helen Mirren was a favourite for it, but when she won the place erupted. And about twenty minutes later she appeared in the pub, in her stunning white Badgley Mischka gown (thanks Google, leave me alone Spellcheck) holding the Tony aloft. She hugged anyone in arm's reach and stuffed a cold slider into her mouth. I was posing like a tool with the Tony (see below) when I realised she was about to leave without it. I chased her outside with it and she rolled her eyes and gratefully took it back. A further twenty minutes later we looked up at the screens and she was back in her seat. Incredibly classy.
Best Featured Actor was a little later, and was the only tense part of the evening for us. Richard McCabe was up against Wolf Hall's Nat Parker- a brilliant Henry VIII, who had been in The Audience when we did it in the West End. Richard won- I felt like I was in the wrong end of a football stadium- surrounded by the other team's fans- as I let out a huge cheer and realised I was surrounded by Wolf Hall actors. Actually they were brilliantly gracious- as was Richard with his acceptance speech. There's something to be said for not crying when accepting an award. As a Brit, I would say that, but resisting the urge to sob uncontrollably pays off because people can hear what you're saying and won't impersonate you when they see you in the dressing room the next day.
Just three weeks left for us on Broadway- and four for Wolf Hall. Come and see both shows if you haven't already. Actually the two shows share a theme- they are both about Brits not crying even though they really want to.
Previous Entry
1 June 2015
A Visit from the Clintons
The West Wing is my favourite TV show. Seven years ago my wife walked down the aisle, in a traditional English country church, to the theme tune played solemnly on an 18th Century organ.
So I was pretty excited when I heard when I got to work last Saturday that I was going to meet a former American President. And a possible future one. Bill and Hillary had decided to skip Clinton The Musical at New World Stages and were heading to The Audience. Since they've been, Chelsea, and Hillary's Chief of Staff have both come too. I think there's something reassuring about that. when you tick 'word of mouth' on those marketing questionnaires, you're in good company. Now, when famous people are in the audience (rather than The Audience), a few things happen.1. The show goes up late. Bill was on time but Hillary was a little late (maybe she's got a bit more on at the moment). 2. Unassuming looking men in chinos and dark glasses hang around backstage and probably know your name. Not because they saw you on TV, but because 'it's their job to know your name'. They might even know if you've got some outstanding parking tickets. 3. The audience will not know someone famous is in during the first half, but they will be spotted in the interval and there might be selfies. 4. The second half goes up late because- the selfies. 5. The audience will laugh more in the second half because the jokes just seem funnier, and because everyone there is already wording their tweet/anecdote at work about how they went to to theatre on the same day as the CLINTONS! 6. This last one can backfire. I was in the original production of Frost/Nixon at the Donmar Warehouse in London. David Frost came, very discreetly, to an early preview. It was the quietest house we'd had- Michael Sheen, playing Frost, could not work out what was wrong. Only later did we realise Frost was in. If large parts of the play are essentially saying 'Look at this 1970s idiot being an idiot!', and said idiot is in the row behind you, you aren't going to want to laugh. It'd just be rude. And in a 250 seater, word gets round fast. 7. The actors, so often propositioned for selfies themselves, start wondering how to get one with one of the Clintons. But not one of those awkward lean over a crash barrier gurning ones, more of a firm handshake/ deep in conversation/ sharing a joke/ both of you in suits one. Like the ones you see on the wall of the very expensive Doctor you've been to see about your knees on the Upper East Side. Except actors selfies end up on the dressing table they share with 2 other actors or in their mum's kitchen. Our selfies didn't happen. Apparently the most famous people in America aren't wild about people they've never met pointing things at them that haven't been x rayed and swabbed. Fair enough. We made do with one of those selfies that you'd take if your selfie stick was a fishing rod. It had about 50 people in it. So. I think they loved the show. They shook everyone's hands on stage after the curtain call and Bill told a few stories about at least 3 of the Prime Ministers he'd worked with. We all bathed in that famous charisma. And knew that meeting Hillary might be an even bigger deal than meeting Bill.
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)
Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos
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