TV's Ben McKenzie to be Gentleman Caller in L.A. Glass Menagerie, Starring Judith Ivey

Ben McKenzie, best known for his roles in TV’s The O.C. (as troubled teen Ryan Atwood) and Southland, will join Judith Ivey in the forthcoming Los Angeles production of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie. McKenzie will play Jim O’Connor, the so-called “Gentleman Caller,” opposite Ivey as Amanda Wingfield, Keira Keeley as Laura Wingfield and Patch Darragh as Tom Wingfield. Performances are set to begin at the Mark Taper Forum on September 1 for a limited engagement through October 17. Opening night is September 12, directed by Gordon Edelstein.

Ivey, Keeley and Darragh first co-starred in the Tennessee Williams classic in May 2009 at the Long Wharf Theatre, with The Good Wife star Josh Charles as the Gentleman Caller. Edelstein’s production then won raves in an off-Broadway mounting produced by Roundabout Theatre Company in March 2010, with Michael Mosley as Jim.

Before finding fame on TV, McKenzie appeared in Life Is a Dream at SoHo Rep and in plays such as Street Scene and The Blue Bird at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Born Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan, he is the nephew of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan (The Kentucky Cycle).