As the world mourns the passing of the longest-reigning monarch in history, Queen Elizabeth II, who died September 8 at the age of 96, Playbill looks back at Oscar winner Helen Mirren's Olivier- and Tony-winning performance as the late, beloved sovereign in Peter Morgan's The Audience.
The Audience, which featured the Queen in imagined meetings with each of her Prime Ministers, officially opened on Broadway in March 2015 following a record-breaking run at London's Gielgud Theatre in 2013 for which Mirren won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play. The Broadway production earned Mirren a Tony for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play.
Two-time Tony winner Stephen Daldry directed The Audience, which played a limited engagement through June 2015 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.
Joining Mirren on Broadway were Dakin Matthews as Winston Churchill, Rod McLachlan as Gordon Brown, Dylan Baker as John Major, Tony Award winner Judith Ivey as Margaret Thatcher, Geoffrey Beevers as Queen's equerry, Michael Elwyn as Anthony Eden, Olivier and Tony winner Richard McCabe as Harold Wilson, Rufus Wright as David Cameron, Anthony Cochrane as Cecil Beaton/Detective/Bishop, Graydon Long as Footman/Beefeater, Jason Loughlin as Footman/Beefeater, Henny Russell as Queen's Secretary, Tracy Sallows as Bobo McDonald, Elizabeth Teeter and Sadie Sink as Young Elizabeth, Michael Rudko, and Tony Ward. McCabe also won a Tony for his performance.
The production was designed by Tony winner Bob Crowley with lighting by Tony winner Rick Fisher, sound by Tony Award Paul Arditti and music by Paul Englishby.
Morgan also penned the screenplay for the Academy Award-nominated 2006 film The Queen, which earned Mirren her Oscar.
The Audience was produced by Matthew Byam Shaw for Playful Productions, Robert Fox and Andy Harries.
Look back at photos from the Broadway production below:
