Jonathan Groff Joins Alfred Molina in LA Premiere of RED This August!

Center Theatre Group has announced that "Spring Awakening" and "Glee" actor Jonathan Groff will be featured opposite previously announced Alfred Molina in the Donmar Warehouse production of the 2010 Tony Award-winning Best Play "Red" by John Logan at the Mark Taper Forum, August 1 through September 9, 2012. The opening performance is scheduled for August 12.

Directed by Michael Grandage, who won a Tony Award for his work on this ". . . intense and exciting two-character bio-drama . . ." (Ben Brantley, The New York Times), "Red" is set in the New York studio of artist Mark Rothko, who is known for paintings that seem to pulsate with a life force of their own.

It's the 1950s and Rothko is working on a commissioned series of paintings for the new Four Seasons restaurant and his recently hired assistant is rapidly learning about the uncompromising aesthetic of his new boss. Though Rothko feels the threatening presence of a new generation of artists, he tells his assistant, "There is only one thing I fear in life, my friend . . . One day the black will swallow the red."

Jonathan Groff originated the role of Melchior Gabor in the Tony Award-winning musical "Spring Awakening," for which he received a Tony nomination. He appears as Jesse St. James in Fox's hit musical comedy series "Glee." He has recently appeared on CBS's "The Good Wife" and joined the cast of the critically-acclaimed Starz series "Boss." Additional theatre credits include "Hair" and "The Singing Forest" (co-starring Olympia Dukakis), both for The Public Theater, and "Prayer for my Enemy" at Playwrights Horizons (Obie Award), directed by Bartlett Sher. He made his West End debut at the Noel Coward Theatre in the revival of Ira Levin's "Deathtrap." He also appeared in national tours of "The Sound of Music," "Bat Boy: The Musical" and "Honk!"

Alfred Molina was seen at the Taper in the 2005-2006 season as Lopakhin opposite Annette Bening in "The Cherry Orchard." In addition to "Red," for which he was nominated for a Tony Award, his Broadway credits include two other Tony Award-nominated performances in "Art" (also at the Doolittle Theatre) and "Fiddler on the Roof" (Tevye). In London he appeared in the premiere of "Red" at the Donmar, "The Night of the Iguana" and "Speed-the-Plow" (both at The National Theatre), "Romeo and Juliet," "Troilus and Cressida," "King Lear" and "The Taming of the Shrew" (Royal Shakespeare Company). His numerous film credits include "Letter to Brezhnev," "Chocolat," "Frida," "Boogie Nights," "Enchanted April," "As You Like It" for Kenneth Branagh, "The Da Vinci Code" and "Spider-Man 2."

In addition to the Tony Award for "Red," John Logan was awarded the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Awards for the play, which premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in London in 2009 and was presented on Broadway in 2010. Logan is the author of more than a dozen other plays, including "Never the Sinner" and "Hauptmann." His work as a screenwriter includes "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (Golden Globe Award), "The Aviator" (Academy, Golden Globe and Writers Guild of America Award nominations), "Gladiator" (Academy, Golden Globe and Writers Guild of America Award nominations), "The Last Samurai," "Any Given Sunday" and "RKO 281" (Writers Guild of America Award, Emmy Award nomination).

Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the Donmar Warehouse is a non-profit theatre located in the heart of London's West End with a reputation as one of the U.K.'s leading producing theatres. It has generated productions that have received 40 Olivier Awards, 23 Critics' Circle Awards, 21 Evening Standard Awards, two South Bank Awards and 20 Tony Awards from 10 Broadway productions. In 2011 "King Lear" transferred to BAM, New York, and became the Donmar's first production to be screened live in cinemas across the globe from its Covent Garden home.

Tickets and information are available at CenterTheatreGroup.org, the CTG box office located at the Ahmanson Theatre, or by calling (213) 628-2772. April 5, 2012

More Articles by This Author...