“‘Frost/Nixon,” Oct. 14-15, 21-22, 8 p.m.; Oct. 16, 2 p.m., United Methodist Church of Chinchilla (411 Layton Road, Clarks Summit); Nov. 11-12, 18-19, 8 p.m.; Nov. 20, 2 p.m., Phoenix Performing Arts Center (409-411 Main St., Duryea.). Tickets: $12. Reservations: 570.676.0940 (UM Church) or 457.3589 (Phoenix PAC)
The world is filled with scandal — almost everyone has some sort of skeleton in their closet. From the small-town rumors that travel in whispers from ear to ear, to the front-page, breaking news, dirty secret everyone is talking about, around every corner you can pick up a tiny tidbit of information on who is doing what they shouldn’t. While the majority of what we hear about anymore is the misdeeds of celebrities, it’s usually political scandal that is still brought up from time to time years after it happened.
Although it’s been nearly 40 years since Richard Nixon’s famous quote “I am not a crook,” the Watergate scandal of the early ’70s is still one of the most well-known scandals in U.S. history, especially when the identity of the infamous Deep Throat was revealed in 2005.
Bringing part of the Nixon story to the local stage, Little Shiny Things Productions will be performing “Frost/Nixon” Friday, Oct. 14 until Sunday, Oct. 16, as well as Oct. 21-22 at the United Methodist Church of Chinchilla in Clarks Summit. A second run of the production will be at the Phoenix Performing Arts Centre in Duryea Nov. 11-12 and 18-20.
John Schugard, director of “Frost/Nixon,” said he fell in love with the play the first time he read it and knew it was something he wanted to do.
“This is a very powerful story,” he said. “Sadly, we still live in an era of political corruption to some degree. This portrays a time when we knew it was happening, a time when those abusing power did not get away with it.”
According to Schugard, “Frost/Nixon,” written by Peter Morgan in 2006, tells the story of when David Frost interviewed former President Richard Nixon in the late ’70s about Nixon’s entire career in the White House, including the Watergate break-in and subsequent cover up.
“The interviews are famous because David Frost got Nixon to admit wrongdoing and got him to admit that he had broken the law and abused his power while in the Oval Office,” Schugard said. “That’s what made the interviews such a big deal.”
The performance features Tim McDermott as David Frost, with Nixon being portrayed by Bob Balitski for the October shows and Jeff Ginsberg for those in November, as well as a small cast playing Frost’s production team and Nixon’s entourage. Schugard said the events of the play often feel like a contest between Frost and Nixon.
“At times it really does feel like a boxing match where here are the two men in the center and each has his corner with the people that are helping him,” he said.
By performing at two different venues during two months, Schugard hopes that people will take the time to come see the show, as he said that chances are it will be the only time it’s done in this area and it won’t come around again for quite some time if at all. And while “Frost/Nixon” was brought to the big screen by Ron Howard in 2008, he said that people will get a very different experience seeing it done by a community theater group. He said he feels that there is an intensity to the live theater experience that film tries to match but never really does.
“That’s what we are offering — that experience of theater that you take home with you and keep with you for the rest of your days.”
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