Frost/Nixon (play) (original) (raw)

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2006 play by Peter Morgan

Frost/Nixon
Original poster
Written by	Peter Morgan
Characters	David Frost Richard Nixon
Date premiered	2006
Place premiered	Donmar Warehouse, London
Original language	English
Subject	The Frost/Nixon interviews
Genre	Drama

Frost/Nixon is a 2006 British historical play by Peter Morgan. The play is based on a series of controversial televised interviews granted by former U.S. president Richard Nixon to English broadcaster David Frost in 1977. The interviews focused on Nixon's administration, including his role in the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to his resignation as president.

Performance history

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The play premiered at the Donmar Warehouse theatre in London in August 2006, directed by Michael Grandage and starring Michael Sheen as the talk-show host and Frank Langella as the former president. Frost/Nixon received enthusiastic reviews in the British press. It then played at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End, again starring Langella and Sheen.

On March 31, 2007, the play began previews on Broadway. It officially opened as a limited engagement at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on April 22 and closed on August 19, after 137 performances. The cast included Langella, Sheen, Remy Auberjonois (John Birt), Shira Gregory (Evonne Goolagong), Corey Johnson(Jack Brennan), Stephen Kunken (James Reston Jr.), Stephen Rowe (Swifty Lazar/Mike Wallace), Triney Sandoval (Manolo Sanchez), Armand Schultz (Bob Zelnick) and Sonya Walger (Caroline Cushing).

TimeLine Theatre Company in Chicago ran the play from August 21 to October 10, 2010.[1][2]

In regional theatre, Frost/Nixon made its Ohio premiere at the Rabbit Run Theatre in Madison, Ohio. The U.S. Rocky Mountain regional premiere was directed and designed by John Thornberry for Longmont Theatre Company in Longmont, Colorado, and ran from November 4 to 19, 2011.

The show received its Philadelphia premiere with New City Stage Company December 5, 2013 to January 4, 2014. The show was a combination of the stage play and the screenplay for the film Frost/Nixon and received wide acclaim. Dan Olmstead, who portrayed Richard Nixon, received a Barrymore Award nomination, and Russ Widdall, who portrayed David Frost, received a citation from Philadelphia Weekly for one of the 2014's most notable performances.

Awards and nominations

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Original Broadway production

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Year	Award ceremony	Category	Nominee
2007	Tony Award	Best Play	Nominated
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play	Frank Langella	Won
Best Direction of a Play	Michael Grandage	Nominated
Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Play	Peter Morgan	Nominated
Outstanding Actor in a Play	Frank Langella	Won
Outstanding Director of a Play	Michael Grandage	Nominated
Outstanding Music in a Play	Adam Cork	Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding New Play	Nominated
Outstanding Actor in a Play	Frank Langella	Won
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play	Stephen Kunken	Nominated
Outstanding Director of a Play	Michael Grandage	Nominated
Outstanding Lighting Design	Neil Austin	Nominated
Drama League Award	Distinguished Production of a Play	Nominated

Ron Howard directed a 2008 film adaptation of the play.[3] The film was produced by Imagine Entertainment and Working Title Films for Universal Pictures. Shooting began on August 27, 2007.[4] Langella and Sheen reprised their roles for the film.

^ BWW News Desk (8 April 2010). "TimeLine Theater Announces Their 2010-11 Season". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved on 8 April 2010.
^ "Night and Day, Remy Bummpo Theatre Company; Frost/Nixon, TimeLine Theatre Company; Theater Reviews by Terry Teachout - WSJ.com". online.wsj.com. 1 October 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
^ "On-line interview with actor Michael Sheen". Archived from the original on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2006.
^ "Arts Briefly", The New York Times, 1 May 2007