Jun 28

Jun 28 New theater group to debut this fall with portrayal of 'Frost/Nixon'

A new theater company hopes to bring professional-level acting and production to Rochester this fall.

Absolute Theatre will open its inaugural season in October with a performance of "Frost/Nixon," a political thriller retelling interviews between disgraced president Richard Nixon and down-and-out talk show host David Frost.

Other performances in the 2016-2017 season will include the comedy "Dead Man's Cell Phone" and "The Amish Project," a one-person portrayal of the heartbreak and forgiveness following the Amish schoolhouse shooting in Nickel Mines, Penn.

All performances will take place in a 250-seat auditorium at the STEM Academy on 16th Street SW. Construction on a new interchange at Mayowood road is slated to be finished by October, just in time for the performance season.

Unlike community theater groups where performers are generally unpaid, Absolute Theatre describes itself as a professional group. "We're putting our money where are values are," said Eric Decker, one of Absolute's three co-founders (along with Suzie Hansen and James Douglass).

Initial payments will be honorariums, but the group hopes to evolve that fee schedule as the group grows. Decker said with all the new ventures happening here, the time is right to expand the performing arts options.

"Rochester deserves to have professional theater in a professional city with millions of visitors each year. Eventually, we want it to be a professional theater. That takes a lot of community and professional support though."