BWW Exclusive: Diary of an Englishman in New York- We Can Hear You...

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!

---

15th June 2015
We can hear you...

We can hear you.

Every cough, every cellphone, every candy wrapper, every 'Oh God, not him again'- We. Hear. It.

There's a belief among some theatregoers that they're at the cinema. Quite literally- I heard from some West End theatre ushers that the most bizarre things they heard from tourist theatregoers was 1. We don't want to watch the trailers- what time does the actual show start? And 2. Can you pause the show for me? I need to go to the bathroom.

True. I promise you. The second one sounds actually more like they think they're at home watching a DVD.

But the magic of theatre rests almost entirely in the opposite to magic. Not starlight and fairy dust: rather, a few hundred people facing in one direction and a handful of people in funny clothes facing the other.

It's a bunch of people- audience AND actors- in a dark room, listening to a story unfold- and while we want what's happening on stage to drive the narrative, that's not the whole story.

Because a play is a constant transaction between the two groups. And we both work at it: you have to remember not to just turn to your partner and tell her conversationally that you've just recognised that guy from Homeland, and he looks better with the beard. And WE have to work to keep your interest up. Rehearsing a play is simply four weeks of a room full of people asking: 'How do we keep their interest up?'

It's incredible how much one sharp cough, directly covering the active word in a funny line, can kill the laugh for a 1000 seater house. But that's fine! Every single sound in the theatre space is present, and heard, and changes what is going on. Actors know that a regularly coughing audience is probably a bit bored. We either tut that they aren't listening or we think- 'Right. How do we keep their interest up?'

Some theatre scholars favour the atmosphere of Shakespeare's original Globe. Jeers and beers and hazelnut shells being hurled about. I've performed in high security prisons where the atmosphere was far from stately. I think behaviour in the theatre changes over the years- we've actually had mercifully few cellphones during our run, and only a handful of miscreants attempting to film Helen Mirren mid show.

But the important thing is that once your ticket gets scanned, you're part of the story. That one performance you witness will be unique- and will be different because you were there.

---

Previous Entry
8th June 2015
Tony Night

The Tonys are a much bigger deal than the Oliviers.

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.

---

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