THEATER TALK to Welcome Dame Helen Mirren This Weekend

An all-new THEATER TALK welcomes back show favorite and leading lady Helen Mirren, currently starring on Broadway as Queen Elizabeth II in Peter Morgan's new play The Audience - now rivaling big musicals for its more-than-million-dollar weekly grosses at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Mirren's latest theatrical triumph returns her to the world of royalty, specifically that of Queen Elizabeth II, one that she previously assumed in her Oscar® winning role in the 2006 film, The Queen, also written by Morgan.

The Audience, as the National Theatre describes it, "imagines a series of pivotal meetings BETWEEN the Downing Street incumbents and their Queen. From Churchill to Cameron, each Prime Minister uses these private conversations as a sounding board and a confessional - sometimes intimate, sometimes explosive. In turn, the Queen can't help but reveal her self as she advises, consoles and, on occasion, teases. These private audiences chart the arc of the second Elizabethan Age, from the beginning of Elizabeth II's reign to today. Politicians come and go through the revolving door of electoral politics, while she remains constant."

Mirren tells the hosts that in her preparation for the role, she had to understand that Queen Elizabeth lives in a rarified world we cannot possibly imagine, one in which she has never stood in line, or even drawn her own bath.

Dame Helen, who could add a very-first Tony® Award to her substantial collection (this season marks her third nomination), shows modesty and humor in her interview, remembering her work as a young actress with the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as with director Peter Brooks' theater troupe, hiking through Africa.

Hosted by Michael Riedel of the New York Post and Susan Haskins, this latest edition of THEATER TALK premieres in the New York metropolitan area on Friday, May 8 (2015) at 1 AM (early Saturday morning) on Thirteen/PBS, with repeats on CUNY TV* on Saturday 5/9 at 8:30 PM, Sunday 5/10 at 12:30 PM, and Monday 5/11 at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM, and 7:30 PM.

THEATER TALK is jointly produced by the not-for-profits Theater Talk Productions and CUNY TV. The program is taped in the Himan Brown TV and Radio Studios at The City University of New York (CUNY) TV in Manhattan, and is distributed to 100+ participating public television stations nationwide. THEATER TALK is made possible in part by The New York State Council on the Arts, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, The CUNY TV Foundation and The Friends of THEATER TALK.

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