Photo Flash: In Rehearsal with Chicago Shakes' THE KING'S SPEECH

Chicago Shakespeare Theater stages the North American Premiere production of The King's Speech, beginning September 12 in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare. Writer David Seidler brings the remarkable true story that inspired the Academy Award-winning film back to the stage in a new production of the play, directed by Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award-winnerMichael Wilson. Following the play's North American premiere in Chicago, the production is slated for engagements at other theaters across the country.

Chicago Shakespeare's production stars Harry Hadden-Paton (Broadway's My Fair Lady, Downton Abbey, The Crown) as King George VI and James Frain (The Tudors, True Blood, The White Queen) as Lionel Logue-and features Rebecca Night as Elizabeth,Elizabeth Ledo as Myrtle Logue, Alan Mandell as Archbishop of Canterbury Cosmo Lang,Kevin Gudahl as Winston Churchill, Jeff Parker as King Edward VIII, John Judd as King George V, and David Lively as Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.

Before Queen Elizabeth II, her father, King George VI, reigned-the younger son known by his family as "Bertie" with a chronic stammer, never expected to rule. But when his brother David abdicated the throne to wed American divorcée Wallis Simpson, the man who would become king had to rally a nation preparing for war. Enter an unconventional speech therapist named Lionel Logue, who would help the monarch find his voice.

Photo Credit: joe mazza - bravelux