TimeLine Presents Chicago Premiere of FROST/NIXON 8/21-10/10

TimeLine Theatre Company opens its 2010-11 season with the Chicago premiere of Frost/Nixon by Peter Morgan, directed by TimeLine Associate Artist Louis Contey. Frost/Nixon runs August 21 - October 10, 2010 (previews August 17 through August 20) at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago. Press Opening performances are Saturday, August 21 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, August 22 at 2 p.m. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the TimeLine Theatre Box Office at 773.281.8463 x24 or buy online via timelinetheatre.com.

The cast of Frost/Nixon features Terry Hamilton as Richard Nixon and Andrew Carter as David Frost, with Don Bender, Matthew Brumlow, Dennis Grimes, Michael Kingston, Beth Lacke, Ian Maxwell, David Parkes and Jessica Thigpen.

Three years after the Watergate scandal ended his presidency, Richard Nixon has agreed to break his silence in a series of interviews with up-and-coming British broadcaster David Frost. Behind-the-scenes it's a battle of egos for the upper hand in controlling history, but as the cameras roll, the world is riveted by a remarkably honest exchange between one man who has lost everything and another with everything to gain.

"TimeLine is bringing Peter Morgan's provocative and compelling play Frost/Nixon to Chicago for the first time, and we are eager to share this story with our audience," TimeLine Artistic Director PJ Powers said. "In the intimate setting of TimeLine's theatre, people will find themselves up close to the two larger-than-life personalities of David Frost and Richard Nixon and hopefully gain a deeper understanding into what made their confrontation in 1977 such a historic moment."

Performance Schedule/Events

Preview performances of Frost/Nixon are Tuesday, August 17 through Friday, August 20 at 8 p.m. The play opens on Saturday, August 21 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, August 22 at 2 p.m. and then runs Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through October 10, 2010.

POST-SHOW DISCUSSIONS: Free post-show discussions led by a TimeLine Company Member and featuring the production dramaturg and members of the cast on Wednesdays, August 25, September 8 and 22; Thursdays, September 2 and 16; Sundays, August 29, September 5 and 19.

SUNDAY SCHOLARS SERIES: A free hour-long post-show panel discussion with experts on the themes and issues of the play on Sunday, September 12.

DISCUSSION WITH TIMELINE COMPANY MEMBERS: Free post-show discussion with TimeLine Company members on Sunday, September 26.

Buying Tickets

Tickets are $28 (Wednesday - Friday) or $38 (Saturday & Sunday). Preview tickets are $18. Student discount is $10 off the regular ticket price with valid ID. Group rates for groups of 10 or more are available. Advance purchase is recommended as performances may sell out. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the TimeLine Theatre Box Office at 773.281.8463 x24 or buy online via timelinetheatre.com.

Location/Transportation/Parking/Accessibility

TimeLine Theatre is located at 615 W. Wellington Ave., inside the Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ building, near the corner of Wellington and Broadway in Chicago's Lakeview East neighborhood. CTA El stops at Wellington (Brown/Purple lines) and Belmont (Red/Brown/Purple lines) are nearby. CTA busses #36-Broadway, #76-Diversey, #77-Belmont, #22-Clark and #8-Halsted stop nearby. TimeLine offers parking for $8 with validation at the Standard Parking garages at Broadway Center (2846 N. Broadway, at Surf) or the Century Mall (2836 N. Clark), both within two blocks of TimeLine. There is also limited street parking and other paid parking lots nearby. Visit timelinetheatre.com for complete directions and parking information. There are two flights of stairs totaling 18 steps between the street and the theater space, with no elevator.

Production Staff

The production staff for Frost/Nixon includes Keith Pitts (Scenic Design), Alex Wren Meadows (Costume Design), Keith Parham (Lighting Design), Andrew Hansen (Sound Design), Julia Eberhardt (Properties Design), Mike Tutaj (Projections Design), Maren Robinson (Dramaturg), Cheney Tardio (Stage Manager), John Kearns (Production Manager), Elise Kauzlaric (Dialect Coach), Aly Grauer (Assistant Costume Design), Michael Gehmlich (Technical Director), Alice Magelssen (Assistant Stage Manager), Mac Vaughey (Master Electrician) and Susan Muirhead (Lobby Display Video Design).

Biographies

Peter Morgan (Playwright) is a British playwright and screenwriter whose uncanny ability to capture history's most notable leaders has earned him both critical acclaim and numerous awards. Morgan's credits include screenplays of The Deal, The Queen, The Last King of Scotland, Longford, The Special Relationship and The Other Boleyn Girl, and both the play script and screenplay of Frost/Nixon. Upcoming projects include writing the screenplay for the supernatural thriller Hereafter, being directed by Clint Eastwood, and being co-writer of the 23rd James Bond film.

Louis Contey (Director) is an Associate Artist at TimeLine. He received a Non-Equity Jeff Award for Outstanding Direction of Awake and Sing! and a Non-Equity Jeff Award nomination for It's All True, both at TimeLine. Other TimeLine productions include A House With No Walls, The General from America and Copenhagen. He has directed more than 60 plays, among them Requiem for a Heavyweight, A View from the Bridge, A Streetcar Named Desire, All My Sons, Rocket to the Moon, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Judgment at Nuremberg and Meet John Doe. He is an 11-time Jeff Award nominee and has received seven Non-Equity Jeff Awards. Contey has worked at The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Theatre at the Center, Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, Shattered Globe Theatre, Provision Theatre, Eclipse Theatre and American Theater Company, among others. He received his M.F.A. in directing from The Theatre School at DePaul University, where he is currently an adjunct instructor.

Terry Hamilton (Richard Nixon) has been an Associate Artist at TimeLine Theatre since 2005, where he most recently appeared as the Headmaster in The History Boys (Equity Jeff Award - Ensemble). Other TimeLine credits include This Happy Breed (Non-Equity Jeff Award - Leading Actor), Pravda (Non-Equity Jeff Award - Supporting Actor), Martin Furey's Shot, Copenhagen, The General From America, Fiorello! (Non-Equity Jeff Award - Supporting Actor, Musical), Widowers' Houses, Weekend and Not Enough Air. Other Chicago credits include Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead at Writers' Theatre, The Three Musketeers and The Taming of the Shrew at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Killer Angels at Lifeline Theater, Hamlet in a co-production with Rivendell/Powertap, Macbett in a co-production with 13th Tribe/Greasy Joan & Company and The Man Who Fell in Love With the Moon for Running With Scissors.

Andrew Carter (David Frost) returns to TimeLine Theatre for the fourth time, having last appeared as the young teacher Irwin in the long-running hit The History Boys (Equity Jeff Award - Ensemble). Other TimeLine productions were Pravda and This Happy Breed (Non-Equity Jeff Award - Ensemble). Other Chicago credits include Hot L Baltimore at Mary-Arrchie Theatre, It's A Wonderful Life: Live at the Biograph with American Blues Theatre, A Dublin Bloom at Irish Repertory Theatre, and Rose Rage, Short Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Little Mermaid and Short Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

About TimeLine Theatre Company

Founded in April 1997, TimeLine Theatre Company's mission is to present stories inspired by history that connect with today's social and political issues. During its first 13 seasons, TimeLine has presented 43 productions, including six world premieres and 12 Chicago premieres. Recipient of the 2006 Alford-Axelson Award for Nonprofit Managerial Excellence and the 2009 Richard Goodman Strategic Planning Award from the Association for Strategic Planning, TimeLine has received 42 Jeff Awards, including an award for Outstanding Production seven times.

Still to come during TimeLine's 2010-11 season:

World premiere of MASTERING THE ART by William Brown & Doug Frew
directed by William Brown, October 27 - December 19, 2010
Chicago premiere IN DARFUR by Winter Miller
directed by Nick Bowling, January 19 - March 20, 2011
THE FRONT PAGE by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur
directed by Nick Bowling, April 13 - June 12, 2011
TimeLine is led by Artistic Director PJ Powers and Managing Director Elizabeth K. Auman. Company members are Nick Bowling, Janet Ulrich Brooks, Lara Goetsch, Juliet Hart, David Parkes, PJ Powers and Benjamin Thiem. TimeLine is a member of the League of Chicago Theatres, Theatre Communications Group and the Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce.