Showbiz411

Helen Mirren won the Oscar for playing Queen Elizabeth in “The Queen,” written by Peter Morgan. Now Baz Bamigboye reports from London in today’s Daily Mail that Mirren and Morgan are teaming  up for a second go–this time on stage in the West End, and the play is called “The Audience.’ (Some movie blogs are reporting this without the credit.) Here’s the story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2206391/Helen-Mirren-set-reign-stage-Queen-Elizabeth-II.html

Baz, unlike the outlet that lifted the story from him this morning, spoke directly to Mirren. She said she was offered this role in June and considered turning it down. There are concerns about how to age her on stage. But Mirren and director Stephen Daldry work miracles. They will figure it out. The West End run is from February to June 2013. If it’s a hit, I have no doubt New York will see it in February 2014, for a nice Tony run.

Just a thought: QEII, up there in Buckingham Palace, dealing with naked relatives–what does she think of herself being depicted so often on film and on stage? Is she ghastly bored with it, or does she have DVDs and posters? I wonder if we’ll ever know!

Roger Friedman

Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News. Friedman previously wrote the Intelligencer column at New York Magazine, He writes for Parade magazine and has written for Details, Vogue, the New York Times, Post, and Daily News and many other publications. He is the writer and co-producer of a film about R&B Music called “Only the Strong Survive,” which was released by Miramax in 2003 and was a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals.