Keach and Cox Kick Off National Frost/Nixon Tour TONIGHT in Des Moines, IA

  Tonight, September 30th the first performance of the national Frost/Nixon tour will begin in Des Moines, IA The 2007 Tony Award® -nominated new play by Peter Morgan, the award-winning author of The Last King of Scotland and The Queen, will run at the Des Moines Civic Center through October 5th.

Award-winning stage and screen actor Stacy Keach takes on the role of President Richard Nixon joined by Alan Cox as David Frost. 

Appearing alongside Keach and Cox are Meghan Andrews as Evonne Goolagong, Bob Ari as Bob Zelnick, Antony Hagopian as John Birt, Roxanna Hope as Caroline Cushing, TEd Koch as Jack Brennan, Stephen Rowe as Swifty Lazar, Brian Sgambati as Jim Reston and Noel Velez as Manobo Sanchez. Rounding out the ensemble are David Sitler, Peter Hilton and Tamara Lovatt-Smith.

Michael Grandage, who directed the original London and Broadway productions, directs the tour with associate director Seth Sklar-Heyn. 

After Des Moines show then travels to Appleton, WI (October 7-12, 2008), Columbus, OH (October 14-19, 2008), Houston, TX (October 21-November 2, 2008), East Lansing, MI (November 4-9, 2008), Washington DC (November 11-30, 2008), Pittsburgh, PA (December 2-7, 2008), Wilmington, DE (December 9-14, 2008), Minneapolis, MN (January 6-11, 2009), Cleveland, OH (January 13-25, 2009), Boston, MA (January 27-February 8, 2009), Charlotte, NC (February 10-15, 2009), Tampa, FL (February 17-22, 2009), Cincinnati, OH (February 24-March 8, 2009), Los Angeles, CA (March 10-29, 2009), Tempe, AZ (March 31-April 5, 2009), San Antonio, TX (April 7-12, 2009), Sacramento, CA (April 14-26, 2009) and Dallas, TX (April 28-May 3, 2009).

How was it that a famous British talk-show host with a playboy reputation was the one to elicit the apology the world was waiting to hear from former U.S. president Richard Nixon? This fast-paced new play shows the determination, conviction and lengths that these two men, and their closest confidantes, went to as they took the stage in one of the most hard-fought political interviews in history. 

Frost/Nixon debuted in a sold-out run at London’s Donmar Warehouse before transferring to the West End, winning a 2007 Evening Standard Award. The show opened on Broadway in April 2007, and played a limited five-month engagement where it garnered Tony nominations for Best Play and Best Direction.

Critics in London and New York raved about the production. “A victory! Frost/Nixon is a nail-biting thriller with the zing of a comedy,” The New York Times enthused. The New York Post exclaimed that it’s “A prize fight you watch with the kind of fascinated delight rare in the theater.” And The Philadelphia Inquirer said “Morgan’s arresting play captures the moment, the era – and the audience. By aiming its stage lights on the two men, Frost/Nixon illuminates history. In the process, we are brighter.”

Frost/Nixon is Peter Morgan’s first stage play and was developed with Matthew Byam Shaw. He received the Best Screenplay Award at the 2006 Venice Film Festival for The Queen starring Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen. The Queen also earned Morgan Golden Globe, New York Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics and British Independent Film Awards and an Oscar nomination for his screenplay. His other film work includes The Last King of Scotland, which earned Morgan a British Independent Film Award nomination. Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence, and The Other Boleyn Girl with Scarlett Johansson. His film Longford is currently in rotation on HBO.

Designs for Frost/Nixon are by Christopher Oram, with lighting by Neil Austin, and the music and sound score by Adam Cork. Video design is by Jon Driscoll.

The Donmar Warehouse is one of London’s leading producing theaters, a subsidized (not-for-profit) theater located in the West End. Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage and previously Sam Mendes, the theater has garnered critical acclaim at home and abroad. The theater produces at least 6 productions a year and a touring program. Donmar generated productions have received 29 Olivier Awards, 17 Critics’ Circle Awards, 13 Evening Standard Awards, and 12 Tony Awards from 8 Broadway productions. 

Donmar generated work in New York includes Cabaret on Broadway, directed by Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall (1998); Electra starring Zoë Wanamaker at the McCarter Theater and later on Broadway (1998; Tony Award nomination: Best Play); The Blue Room with Nicole Kidman and Iain Glen (1998); the multi award-winning The Real Thing (Tony Award Best Play Revival) directed by David Leveaux in 2000; True West directed by Matthew Warchus; The Public Theater and Donmar collaboration of Take Me Out (winner of the Tony Award for Best New Play) (2002/2003); Twelfth Night/Uncle Vanya at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music (2003); and Nine (2003).

Frost/Nixon is produced by Arielle Tepper Madover, Independent Presenters Network (IPN), Broadway Across America, Fox Theatricals, Mary Lu Roffe and The Donmar Warehouse.

Exclusive tour direction for Frost/Nixon is by The Booking Group (212) 869-9280 www.thebookinggroup.com.
 

Biographies

Michael Grandage (Director) is artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, London. His work there has won every major UK Theatre award and includes: The Chalk Garden, Othello, John Gabriel Borkman, Don Juan in Soho, Frost/Nixon (also West End), The Cut (also UK tour), The Wild Duck (Critics Circle Award, Best Director), Grand Hotel (Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production and Evening Standard Award for Best Director), Pirandello’s Henry IV (also UK tour), After Miss Julie, Caligula (Olivier Award, Best Director), The Vortex, Privates on Parade, Merrily We Roll Along (Olivier Award for Best Musical and Critics’ Circle Award for Best Director), Passion Play (Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard Awards), Good. In the West End: Guys and Dolls (Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production), Evita (Adelphi). 

As Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres between 1999 and 2005 his work included: Don Carlos (also West End; Evening Standard, TMA and German British Forum Awards for Best Director), Suddenly Last Summer (also West End), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest (also the Old Vic), Richard III, Don Juan, Edward II, The Country Wife, As You Like It (also Lyric Hammersmith; Critics Circle and Evening Standard Awards for Best Director, South Bank Show Award for Theatre), Twelfth Night, What the Butler Saw. 

He has been given Honorary Doctorates by Sheffield Hallam University and Sheffield University where he was also a visiting professor. He has also been awarded an Honorary Fellowship by The Central School of Speech and Drama and the 2006 Award for Excellence in InterNational Theatre by the InterNational Theatre Institute. 

Seth Sklar-Heyn (Associate Director) served as Assistant Director to Michael Grandage for the Donmar’s Broadway run of Frost/Nixon. He also assisted directors Trevor Nunn and Jack O’Brien on the Broadway productions of Rock’n’Roll and The Coast of Utopia, respectively. Additional Broadway credits: Legally Blonde, The History Boys, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Good Vibrations, A Christmas Carol, Taboo, Cabaret, The Producers, Thou Shalt Not, The Phantom of the Opera and Seussical. National Tour: The Phantom of the Opera, The Producers, and Parade. Graduate of Vassar College.

Peter Morgan (Playwright). Frost/Nixon is Peter Morgan’s first stage play and was developed with producer Matthew Byam Shaw for The Donmar Warehouse. His film credits include screenplays for The Queen starring Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen (Academy Award nomination; Golden Globe Winner;); The Last King of Scotland starring Forest Whitaker (BAFTA Award Winner) and the upcoming screen adaptation of Frost/Nixon directed by Ron Howard, starring Frank Langella and Michael Sheen. His TV credits include HBO’s multi Golden-Globe winning “Longford,” “The Deal” (BAFTA Award for Best Single Drama), and “Henry VIII” (International Emmy for Best Drama, 2004).

Stacy Keach (Richard Nixon). John Huston once said of Stacy Keach that “Stacy is not a star. He is a constellation. The audience will come to see whatever character he portrays.” Keach, who has excelled in many of the classic and Contemporary Stage’s greatest roles, has been called one of America’s pre-eminent interpreters of Shakespeare. Mr. Keach began his professional career with the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1964. He received the first of his three Obie Awards for his work in the off-Broadway political satire, MacBird. Broadway credits include Indians (Tony Award nomination); Deathtrap; the Pulitzer Prize-winning Kentucky Cycle (Helen Hayes award for Best Actor) and Solitary Confinement. One of the most versatile stars of film, television and stage, Keach next appears in Oliver Stone’s cinematic portrait of George W. Bush, W. He has appeared in numerous films, including: The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, The New Centurions, Doc, Fat City, The Longriders, Up in Smoke, Nice Dreams, The Ninth Configuration, Escape from L.A., Honeydripper and American History X. He is celebrated worldwide for his hit series as hard-boiled detective, Mike Hammer, as the irascible, hilarious Dad on Fox’s comic sitcom, Titus and as the warden on Prison Break. He won a Golden Globe award and an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Ernest Hemingway. Following his triumphant recent title role performance in King Lear for the prestigious Goodman Theatre in Chicago, directed by Robert Falls (which he will reprise in June 2009 at Washington D.C.’s new Shakespeare Harmon Center), Keach has recently starred in such films as Rob Nilsson’s Imbued (for which he also composed the music) Ring of Death, The Boxer, The Assistant and Meteor.

Alan Cox (David Frost). Graduated from The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1991. Directing credits: Flanders Mare (Sound Theatre), Dirty Fan Male (Edinburgh festival), The Riot Act (The Gate), A&R (Theatre 503) and Desire Caught By The Tale (Landor Theatre). Acting Credits: Seasons at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Chichester Festival Theatre, The Seagull, Absolute Hell, Wild Oats, An Enemy of the People (National Theatre). West End: The Creeper (Playhouse), The Importance of Being Earnest (Theatre Royal Haymarket) and Strange Interlude (Duke of York’s). U.S: Translations (MTC on Broadway), Passion Play (Goodman Theatre, Chicago). He also worked at the Lyric Theatre Belfast in John Bull’s Other Island by George Bernard Shaw and toured with Howard Barker’s Wrestling School in The Fence in its Thousandth Year. He appeared in the London Premieres of The Earthly Paradise by Peter Whelan (The Almeida), The Flu Season by Will Eno (The Gate) and The Rubenstein Kiss by James Philips (Hampstead). Film and TV: August, The Speed of Thought, Ladies in Lavender, Justice, The Auteur Theory, Mrs. Dalloway, An Awfully Big Adventure, Young Sherlock Holmes, and John Adams, Housewife 49, Custer’s Last Battle, Not Only But Always.

Meghan Andrews (Evonne Goolagong, u/s Caroline). Broadway: Frost/Nixon and The Grapes of Wrath (Steppenwolf). The Trip to Bountiful (Signature, 2006 Lucille Lortel Nomination) (Goodman), Clocks and Whistles, Doubt (GeorgeStreet), Film: Sweet Flame, The Interloper, Cost of Living. TV: “Law & Order: C.I.” and “Flesh ‘n Blood” (with Director Jim Burrows).  Meghan is a lifetime member of the Actors’ Studio.

Bob Ari (Bob Zelnick, u/s Nixon). Broadway: The Constant Wife, Bells Are Ringing, Laughter on the 23rd Floor. Off-Broadway: Die Mommie Die!, Jolson & Company, Picasso At The Lapin Agile. Regional Theatres: American Conservatory Theatre, Colony Theatre, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Delaware Theatre Co., Long Wharf, Walnut St. Theatre and many others. Film: Two Lovers, Kissing Jessica Stein, Music Of The Heart, Cradle Will Rock. Television: “Ed”, “Law & Order”, “Cheers”, “Cagney and Lacey”, “Soap”, “L.A. Law”, “All My Children”.

Antony Hagopian (John Birt). Broadway: Frost/Nixon. Off-Broadway: Walking Down Broadway (Mint Theater). Regional: Cincinnati Playhouse; Pittsburgh Public Theater; Shakespeare Theatre (D.C.); Pioneer Theatre Company; Missouri Repertory; Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Virginia Stage; Indiana Repertory; NJ Shakespeare Festival; PlayMakers Repertory. TV: “Law & Order”, “Sopranos”.

Peter Hilton (Ensemble) is an actor, director and award-winning playwright. He holds a degree in Classics from UCL and has lectured at the British Museum on ancient Greek drama. He is a member of AEA, British Equity, The Dramatists Guild of America and a drama consultant for experiential drama-based training in issues of diversity and cultural awareness www.dramaconsultant.com

Roxanna Hope (Caroline Cushing).  Broadway: Frost/Nixon, After the Fall, The Women.  Off Broadway: 1001, Arabian Night, Princess Turandot, Little Willy. Regional: Williamstown Theater Festival, American Conservatory Theater, Shakespeare Theatre/NJ, Huntington Theater, Westport Country Playhouse, Colorado Shakespeare Festival and others. FilmTV: No Reservations, “Law & Order”, “Law & Order: CI”, “Law & Order: SVU”, “All My Children”.

TEd Koch (Jack Brennan). Broadway: The Pillowman, Death of a Salesman, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Off-Broadway: Meshugah, Chaos Theories. Regional: True West Arena Stage, Front Page, Sweet Bird of Youth (Williamstown Theater), Pig Farm, Sea of Tranquility Old Globe, A Streetcar Named Desire (Buffalo Studio), As You Like It (Goodman). Television: “Cashmere Mafia”, “Sopranos”, “Law & Order”, “Ed”, “Third Watch”, “West Wing”, “Hack”, “Chicago Hope”. Film: Hannibal, Cold Souls, Griffin and Phoenix, Dinner Rush.

Tamara Lovatt-Smith (Ensemble). A native Australian, Tamara works as a theater/film/voice over artist in New York. Recent credits: Freak Winds, Illumination and The Stepford Wives. She teaches at NY’s Atlantic Theater co. Acting School and is a producing associate on the new musical ANGELS. Thanks and love to parents, ANGELS team, and Joshua.

Stephen Rowe (Swifty Lazar/Mike Wallace). Broadway: Frost/Nixon, The Goat, The Nerd. Off-Broadway: Big Bill, A Picasso, Tiny Alice, The Normal Heart. Regional: Founding Member, ART (ALBEE'S MEN, acclaimed solo show), ALBEE DIRECTS ALBEE, International Tour, South Coast Rep (DramaLogue Award), Berkeley Rep (Bay Area Critics Award) & others. TV: “Law & Order”, “ER”, “Beverly Hills: 90210” & others. Film: The Pink Panther, Basic Instinct.

Brian Sgambati (Jim Reston). Broadway: The Coast Of Utopia, King Lear, Lincoln Center. Off-Broadway includes: Landscape Of The Body (Signature), The World Over (Playwright's Horizons), Paris Commune (Public). Regional includes: Passion Play (Goodman), Two Noble Kinsmen (Old Globe), The Blue Demon (Huntington), Sweet Bird Of Youth (La Jolla Playhouse). MFA: UC San Diego.

David Sitler (Ensemble, u/s Camera Op, u/s Brennan, u/s Zelnick, u/s Swifty). Broadway: An Inspector Calls. Regional: Ford's, Virginia Stage Company, Florida Studio, Swine Palace, NJ Rep., Luna Stage, Carousel Dinner Theatre, Mill Mountain, Surflight, Hippodrome, Cumberland County. Film: Ghetto Dawg, Synapse, Twelve. TV: “Law & Order: SVU”, “As the World Turns”. Thanks to a great company and especially wife/actor Carolyn Popp.

Noel Velez (Manolo Sanchez, u/s Reston). Arms and the Man, School for Wives, Measure for Measure, Mary Stuart, Richard III, As You Like It, The Rivals, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cymbeline, Taming of the Shrew, Cyrano, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, All's Well that Ends Well.  “One Life to Live”, “Guiding Light”.

Photo Credit Ben Strothmann

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