The Audience at Drury Lane Theatre
Lee Kinney is a sound designer and music producer, whose credits include the critically acclaimed Broadway production Is This a Room.
He's the sound designer for Drury Lane Theatre's production of The Audience.
To listen to the interview with Lee Kinney, click the play button below (or click here to open the audio player in a new tab/window).
The Audience is on now and runs through October 20, 2024.
More information, including how to purchase tickets, is available on the Drury Lane Theatre website.
Mike Reflects
Some time ago—I believe before COVID—Drury Lane sent out a survey, asking people to select the shows they'd be most interested in seeing for coming seasons.
The Audience was one such show listed, and I was quite excited to select it, among others I'd been dying to see.
I know, for a lot of people, the show evokes memories of the smash hit Netflix series The Crown, which is also written by Peter Morgan & also about Queen Elizabeth's rise into the role of, and years as, the monarch.
In fact, when I mentioned to an usher before seeing the show how long I had been wanting to see it, their first response was to ask if I was a fan of The Crown.
While I don't not enjoy The Crown, my interest in this play is a bit different.
In addition to The Crown, Peter Morgan also wrote the 2006 movie The Queen about the monarchy's response to the death of Diana.
It's not as known now as it was, but it's one of my go to movies to watch when I can't think of anything else to watch, which I believe to be fairly high praise.
The movie's star, Helen Mirren, reprised her role for the play's debuts on both London's West End and Broadway.
Peter Morgan was also the writer behind Frost/Nixon, both the play (which I hope to eventually see on this, or another local, stage) and the film adaptation (which I absolutely love).
But, regardless of my reason for why I was so excited to see this show, when I left the theatre, I did so in complete awe of Lee's orchestrations.
Now don't get me wrong. Everyone who worked on this show did an absolutely amazing job. But while there are a lot of things to praise about this show, the music took the top slot for me.
When I mentioned that to an usher on my way out, they mentioned to me that I wasn't the only one to say that & also mentioned that the music was entirely original for this production.
Hearing that, I shot off an email requesting an interview with Lee before I'd even left the building. And I'm extremely glad I did.
It was a great look at what went into creating the music that had moved me so deeply.
Hopefully you feel the same way—both about the interview and the score.