Judith Ivey to play Thatcher in 'The Audience'

NEW YORK (AP) — Judith Ivey will need to get in touch with her fearsome side. She's going to be the "Iron Lady" on Broadway.

Producers of "The Audience" said Monday that Ivey, the two-time Tony Award winner and one-time cast member of "Designing Women," will play former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher when the show opens in New York City on Feb. 17.

"The Audience" imagines the private weekly meetings between the monarch and Britain's prime ministers — 12 in all — over her six-decade reign. It was a smash hit in London and Helen Mirren will be reprising her role as Queen Elizabeth II.

The rest of the cast includes Richard McCabe as Harold Wilson, Rufus Wright as David Cameron, Geoffrey Beevers as the Queen's snooty attendant and Dylan Baker as John Major.