Jennifer Ikeda has joined the cast of the West Coast premiere of “Seminar” at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.
The new comedy written by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Peabody Award winner Theresa Rebeck and directed by Obie Award winner Sam Gold will kick off the Ahmanson Theatre’s new season Oct. 10 through Nov. 18. The opening is set for Oct. 17.
In “Seminar,” four aspiring young writers (Ikeda, Aya Cash, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe and Greg Keller) sign up for private writing classes with Leonard (played by Academy Award and Emmy Award nominee Jeff Goldblum), an international literary figure. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox instruction, some thrive and others flounder, alliances are made and broken, sex is used as a weapon and hearts are unmoored. The wordplay is not the only thing that turns vicious as innocence collides with experience.
“Seminar” arrives in Los Angeles directly from its hit Broadway run, where it was cheered as “the funniest show on Broadway” by WOR Radio. The play had its world premiere on Broadway in November 2011.
Goldblum joined the cast in April. He appeared on Broadway in “The Pillowman” in 2005, and more recently in two productions for The Old Vic in London, “Speed-the-Plow” (2008) and “The Prisoner of Second Avenue” (2010). His film credits include “Jurassic Park,” “Independence Day,” “Nashville,” “Death Wish,” “The Big Chill,” “Annie Hall,” “The Life Aquatic,” “Igby Goes Down” and “The Fly.” On TV, he starred on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” earned an Emmy nomination for his guest appearance on “Will & Grace,” and guest-starred on the hit series “Glee.”
Ikeda’s New York credits include “Top Girls” at Manhattan Theatre Club, Edward Albee’s “Seascape” at Lincoln Center, “The Bacchae” and “As You Like It” both at the Delacorte; “Titus Andronicus,” “As You Like It,” “The Two Noble Kinsmen” at The Public Theater; “Hamlet” and “Oliver Twist” with Theatre for a New Audience.
TV and film credits include recurring roles on “Smash” and “Lipstick Jungle,” “Suits,” “Fringe,” “Law & Order,” “Guiding Light,” “Heavy Petting,” “Lefty Loosey Righty Tighty,” and the short film “Incoming,” which was screened by the L.A. Shorts Festival and Noor Film Festival, and for which she was named best actress by the Asians on Film Festival. Ikeda is a graduate of Juilliard.
For tickets and information, go to www.CenterTheatreGroup.org, the Center Theatre Group box office located at the Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., or call (213) 972-4400.