FROST/NIXON Bring Its Famed Interview To Portland, Previews 4/14

Portland Center Stage presents Frost/Nixon, the play that became the Oscar-nominated film, about the conversation between David Frost and Richard Nixon that irrevocably changed the media's relationship to the American presidency. Frost/Nixon previews on Tuesday April 14th, opens on Friday, April 17th and runs through May 10th, 2009. Tickets range from $30.00 to $66.50, with student and under 30 discounts available. Rush tickets for Frost/Nixon are $15 and available starting 10 minutes prior to curtain. Show times are 7:30 pm Tuesday through Saturday, with a 2:00 pm Sunday matinee and alternating Saturday 2:00 pm and Sunday 7:30 pm performances. See the show calendar at http://tickets.pcs.org/buytickets/calendar.asp for the complete performance schedule.

In 1977, a British playboy journalist nobody took seriously was suddenly granted an interview with disgraced president Richard Nixon. 28 hours of tape later David Frost did something no one else had managed to do: force Nixon on record to admit responsibility for a little caper called Watergate. Frost/Nixon dives behind the scenes of this historic encounter, into the power plays, private confessionals, negotiations and mental mine fields of two men (and the teams that supported them) who had a lot to gain and a devastating amount lose from an encounter that no one else really thought would be worth the tape it was recorded on.

For Nixon, the interview was a $600,000 paycheck and an opportunity to clear his name, prove he could dominate the new media that had once tripped him up in his debates against JFK and possibly re-launch a scuttled political career. For Frost, a journalist known more for his swinging parties than his investigative acumen, the interviews were a once in a lifetime shot at professional legitimacy, financed largely out of his own pocket. The resulting battle of wills revealed a complex and nuanced portrait of two men whose ambitions outshone their fortunes and the moment in history that ultimately defined them both.

Get a Great Deal By Trading In Your Faded Political Fervor. In an effort to help Portlanders sustainably re-use their obsolete political enthusiasm, Portland Center Stage will offer a $25 ticket to any performance of Frost/Nixon to any patron who turns in a piece of campaign propaganda from any previous presidential campaign (from the winning or losing side- we don't care). A piece of genuine Nixon campaign propaganda will net a free ticket. A copy of an actual "You can't lick Dick" campaign poster will win the awe and respect of the entire PCS staff (plus some tickets and stuff).

Playwright Peter Morgan is an Academy Award nominated English screenwriter and playwright, best known as the screenwriter of The Queen and The Last King of Scotland, which garnered Oscar Nominations for Best Lead Actress (Helen Mirren) and Lead Actor (Forest Whittaker) in the same year. Frost/Nixon, Morgan's first stage play, premiered at the Donmar Warehouse Theater in London in 2006. The production moved to a hit run on Broadway and was subsequently adapted by Morgan into a screenplay. In 2008 the film garnered 5 Oscar nominations for Best Director, Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing. His screenplay follow up to The Queen, about the relationship between Tony Blair and Bill Clinton has been optioned and will begin production shortly.

Frost/Nixon will be directed by Associate Artistic Director Rose Riordan and will feature Bill Christ (Richard Nixon), Scott Coopwood (Jack Brennan), Michael Fisher-Welsh (Studio Manager, Bob Zelnick), Richard Gallegos (Manolo Sanchez) last seen at PCS in the world premiere of Apollo earlier this season, Adam Ludwig (Jim Reston), Brian Monahan (Ollie, John Birt), Alison Tigard (Caroline Cushing, Makeup Lady) last seen in Portland in Inviting Desire during the Fertile Ground Festival, David Townsend (David Frost) and returning from their just-closed stint as ensemble members in How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found are Darius Pierce and Laura Faye Smith - each playing a bevy of supporting roles (including Australian aboriginal tennis champion Evonne Goolagong).

Returning as Scenic designer is Tony Cisek (whose last PCS design for Sometimes a Great Notion was one of the Willamette Weeks top pics from the 2007/2008 season), costume design will be by Wade Laboissonniere, sound design will be by Sam Kusnetz and lighting will be designed by Daniel Ordower.

Additional support for this production has been provided by the The Standard, Witham and Dickey, the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, Joan Cirillo & Robert Cooke and Madeline Nelson & Jim Lafky. Media support has been provided by Kink.fm.

Portland Center Stage's 2008/09 season is funded in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council and Work for Art, the Oregon Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Portland Center Stage inspires our community by bringing stories to life in unexpected ways. Established in 1988 as an off shoot of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, PCS became an independent theater in 1994 and has been under the leadership of Artistic Director Chris Coleman since May 2000. The company presents a blend of classic, contemporary and original productions in a conscious effort to appeal to the eclectic palate of theatergoers in Portland. PCS also offers a variety of education and outreach programs for curious minds from six to 106, including the PCS GreenHouse, a school of theater.

THE GERDING THEATER AT THE ARMORY houses a 599-seat Main Stage and a 200-seat black box Studio. It was the first building on the National Register of Historic Places, and the first performing arts venue, to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification. The Gerding Theater at the Armory opened to the public on Oct. 1, 2006. The capital campaign to fund the renovation of this hub for community artistic activity continues.

 

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