Tricky: Nixon's Nixon Returns to Off-Broadway Sept. 20 for MCC 10th Anniversary Run

By Ernio Hernandez
20 Sep 2006

Steve Mellor and Gerry Bamman in the 1995 production of Nixon's Nixon.
Steve Mellor and Gerry Bamman in the 1995 production of Nixon's Nixon.
Photo by Joan Marcus

Actors Gerry Bamman and Steve Mellor reteam with director Jim Simpson on the MCC Theater season-opening, 10th anniversary staging of Russell Lees' Nixon's Nixon beginning Sept. 20.

The two-character political satire opens Oct. 4 for a run slated through Oct. 28.

The stars of the original Off-Broadway production presented by MCC over a decade ago reprise the roles they originated in Nixon's Nixon. Also joining the celebration will be original scenic and lighting designer Kyle Chapulis.

Bamman — who earned an OBIE Award for his original portrayal — plays President Richard M. Nixon opposite Mellor as Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger in the intermissionless work which imagines the conversation that transpired the night before the Commander-in-Chief announced his resignation.

The production also features design work by Claudia Brown (costume) and Jill DuBoff (sound).

Up next, the Off-Broadway troupe that presented Neil LaBute's Some Girl(s) last season will continue that collaboration with its playwright-in-residence LaBute. The world premiere of In a Dark, Dark House — "a drama about a man and his complicated relationship with a complicated father" — comes to the MCC stage May 16-June 23, 2007.

The new LaBute work will mark the fifth collaboration with MCC following The Mercy Seat, The Distance From Here, Fat Pig and Some Girl(s). MCC also produced a one night benefit evening of LaBute plays, Autobahn.

One production in the new three-play season (to play January-March 2007) is yet to be announced.

Tickets to Nixon's Nixon at the Lucille Lortel, 121 Christopher Street, are available by calling (212-279-4200). For more information, visit www.mcctheater.org.