Frost/Nixon: recoups its $2.5 million investment

Frost/Nixon, the new play by Peter Morgan, starring Frank Langella and Michael Sheen, directed by Michael Grandage, has recouped its investment on Broadway. The production paid back its $2.5 million capitalization during the week ending 29 Jul, 14 weeks after opening on Broadway.

"I am thrilled for the Donmar Warehouse, the wonderful cast and everyone else associated with Frost/Nixon,� says lead producer Arielle Tepper Madover. �The success of the play is not only terrific for first-time playwright Peter Morgan and director Michael Grandage, both making their Broadway debuts, but also encouraging to all producers who present plays on Broadway commercially."

Frost/Nixon is produced on Broadway by Arielle Tepper Madover, Matthew Byam Shaw, Robert Fox and Act Productions; David Binder, Debra Black, Annette Niemtzow/Harlene Freezer & The Weinstein Company.

The drama began previews on 31 Mar 2007 and opened on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on 22 Apr 2007.

The play opened to mostly excellent reviews: "Staged with the momentum of a ticking-bomb thriller and the zing of a boulevard comedy" (New York Times); "One of those definitive Broadway experiences." (New York Post); "Riveting drama....one of the year's best plays." (Star-Ledger); "This is a smooth and exciting production with an outstanding cast." (New York Theatre Guide).

The production continues its strictly limited run through to 19 Aug 2007, prior to the start of shooting the film version.

Frost/Nixon transferred to London�s West End following a sold-out run at the Donmar Warehouse. Prior to coming to Broadway, the production played at the Gielgud Theatre through February 3. A U.S. National Tour will go out in the fall of 2008.

Directed by Michael Grandage, the cast of ten is led by three-time Tony Award winner Frank Langella asPresident Richard Nixon (Tony Award), and Michael Sheen as Sir David Frost, both of whom will reprise their roles in the film version. Langella received 2007 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for his performance.

In addition to Langella and Sheen, the cast features Remy Auberjonois (John Birt); Shira Gregory (Evonne Goolagong); Roxanna Hope (Caroline Cushing); Corey Johnson (Jack Brennan); Stephen Kunken (Jim Reston); Stephen Rowe (Swifty Lazar/Mike Wallace); Triney Sandoval (Manolo Sanchez); and Armand Schultz (Bob Zelnick).

How was it that a famous British talk-show host, with a playboy reputation, was the one to elicit the apology that the rest of the world was waiting to hear from a former U.S. President?

Frost/Nixon takes audiences into the minds of Richard Nixon and David Frost and 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.