THOMASVILLE- Broadway’s original drama Frost/Nixon is set to take the stage at Thomasville On Stage and Company on Friday night, as a dramatization of the events surrounding David Frost’s 1977 television interviews with Richard Nixon comes alive. 

Making his directorial debut, history buff Josh Martinez has poured countless hours into the production, ensuring one the most famous political interviews of all time is historically accurate, including the costuming. 

“Nixon was a big interest for me in high school and I did a couple of projects on him, so I had a good base knowledge,” Martinez said. 

While Martinez’s knowledge of Nixon helped him prepare to take on the role of director, he has since delved deeper into Frost and Nixon’s interview. 

“Frost was a talk show host based in Australia,” Martinez explained. “He had done a couple of shows in the U.S., but he got lucky and got the chance to interview Nixon shortly after his resignation.” 

The play will center around Frost (Caleb Goodman) and Nixon’s (John Stevenson) back stories leading up to the interview, including how Frost acquired the interview and the numerous hoops he had to jump through, especially financial hoops. 

“He had to pay upward of $500,000 for one taping session, and as we go through you get to hear about the nitty-gritty details you normally wouldn’t get to hear about the how and why of Watergate,” Martinez said. 

Having seen Frost/Nixon before TOSAC announced its rendition, Martinez has big plans in store for the audience. 

“We’ve got a really cool period-appropriate recording device that we are using, and I wanted to do something unique with a projector that I saw in a previous show,” he said. 

Martinez shared he had never seen a projector used in a performance before this, but believes projecting scenes of the Vietnam War and the happenings at the time would be integral to the audience’s understanding of the how and why he previously mentioned. 

Despite the odds and ends Martinez has collected to make the show a success, he said establishing a cast was difficult. 

“We don’t have a lot of male actors around here, especially age-wise,” Martinez said. “We really had to get the word out for auditions, but once we got that done, I cast everyone in a role.” 

The actors have proven to be the perfect choices for the show, and have really excited Martinez with their dedication and interest in the historical aspects, as well. 

Starring alongside Goodman and Stevenson are Will Billingsley as Jack Brennan, Mern Young as John Birt, Jo Smith as Caroline Cushing, Ransom Young as James Reston, Richard Roundtree as Irving Paul Lazar, Michael Henderson as Bob Zelnick, and Randi Such as Evonne Goolagong. 

“They really like the idea of the older era,” Martinez said. “Modern is fun, but from everything I’ve heard, I think they would enjoy doing more true stories. It’s easier in a sense for them to portray a historical character than an imagined person.” 

Martinez said he hopes the audience appreciates the hard work that has gone into the depiction of these historical figures, and the way the actors have created a multi-faced character. 

“The Watergate Scandal and Vietnam painted Nixon as the boogeyman, but directing this show and through my research, I’ve realized Nixon is just a human being and human beings make mistakes,” Martinez said. “Maybe, he had good intentions. He might not have been all bad, he may have just made mistakes at the wrong time.” 

It will all be up to the audience to decide on opening night. 

Frost/Nixon will premiere on Friday, February 14, at 7 p.m. at TOSAC. Additional showings will be on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 16 at 2 p.m., Friday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m.