MARK KENNEDY
AP Drama Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Broadway, prepare for the arrival of a queen — Helen Mirren is bringing “The Audience” to New York City.

Producers of Peter Morgan’s play said Wednesday that Mirren will return to Broadway this spring as Elizabeth II in the work that wowed London audiences and earned the actress an Olivier Award.

“The Audience” imagines the private weekly meetings between the monarch and Britain’s prime ministers — 12 in all — over her six-decade reign. In the play, the queen grows from a tentative 20-something to wise octogenarian while retaining a core of solitude.

Previews in New York start Feb. 17 and it will run through June at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Stephen Daldry.

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