Ben McKenzie, Judith Ivey, Patch Darragh, Keira Keeley Set for L.A. Glass Menagerie

Television and film star Ben McKenzie and stage veterans Patch Darragh and Keira Keeley will join previously announced star Judith Ivey in Gordon Edelstein’s revival of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie to play the Mark Taper Forum, September 1-October 17, with an official opening on September 12.

Ivey, Darragh and Keeley, who will play Amanda, Tom, and Laura Wingfireld, respectively, starred in Edelstein’s previous productions of the play at New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre and New York’s Roundabout Theatre.

McKenzie, who will play Jim O’Connor — aka The Gentleman Caller — is best known for his roles in the television series The O.C. and Southland.

For more information, visit: www.centertheatregroup.org

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Ben McKenzie starts off his day by walking his dog Oscar — and picking up his poop! — on Friday morning (July 23) in Hollywood, Calif. According to TV Guide, the 31-year-old actor will lend his voice to the cartoon reboot of Scooby-Doo, which will air 7/6c on Cartoon Network. Other celebs to lend their star power include Patrick Warburton, Gary Cole, Linda Cardellini, George Segal, Tricia Helfer, Tia Carrere and Julie Bowen.
The new season of Southland premieres January 2011! – Source

Gallery Link:
(x015) – Candids in 2010 > 23/Jul – Ben starts off his day by walking his dog Oscar

STLtoday:

“Southland” will return in January for a 10-episode third season, TNT says.

Created by John Wells (“ER”) and starring Ben McKenzie, “Southland” is “a challenging, visceral show that engages viewers with its immersive style, provocative storylines and complex characters,” TNT’s Michael Wright said. “These qualities have made ‘Southland’ a favorite among critics and appointment viewing for an extremely loyal audience.”

TNT picked up the police drama after NBC dropped it. The original episodes on TNT averaged 2.7 million viewers, the network said.

Just saw this article on Southland_Tv and I decided to put it here too:

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Laist has published a new interview with Ben Mckenzie. He talks about TV series ‘Southland’.

Ben McKenzie stars as Officer Ben Sherman in TNT’s “Southland”

Before Ben McKenzie took the role of rookie Patrol Officer Ben Sherman on formerly NBC’s and now TNT’s “Southland”, we all became familiar with him for his portrayal of the conflicted Ryan Atwood in The CW’s “The O.C.” Tonight the season finale of “Southland” airs at 10pm on TNT – we hope that this series, one of the best that premiered in 2009, makes it back for many more seasons. There is nothing formulaic about this contemporary portrayal of what patrol officers in Los Angeles do every day – the writing is superb and every episode brings a multitude of real LA locations to the screen with an incredible cast that makes every episode that much more real and gripping.

We spoke with Ben via phone last week. [Today @TNTWeKnowDrama will be holding a live twitterview with Ben and co-star Michael Cudlitz from 2-3pm Pacific-

LAist: So [tonight] is the season finale, is it also the series finale?

Ben McKenzie: We don’t know whether we will be renewed or not. TNT has been fantastic and have put a lot of muscle behind the show – the ratings have been solid, not spectacular, but a lot of people have been DVRing the show and watching it that way, so I truly don’t know if we are coming back yet. I’d certainly happily share the information if I had it but I think TNT is going to take its time to see how we do and how they want to go forward.

LAist: The LA setting of “Southland” reminds me a bit of “The Shield” but that show was more of a fantasy.

Ben McKenzie: That show did have a dramatic focus on corruption and power plays among certain members of the LAPD. Our show is more of a slice of life of the LAPD, from patrol cops to detectives. If we get to go again, we may have an episode or two that focused on corruption, but that’s not really the angle that we’re pursuing. “The Shield” was a terrific show and I’m flattered at the comparison.

Well this is it. The final episode of Season 2 (or Season 1.5, depending on how one keeps score.) Not so much a season finale, more the sixth episode of what was supposed to be at least 13 on NBC (before we were so unceremoniously cancelled before premiering). I wish I could say that this episode wraps up the plot lines in nice little bows, providing all of us — cast and crew as well as fans —some closure if in fact this episode does serve as a series finale. The truth is it doesn’t.

No surprise there: it was never intended to do so. Instead, it is simply another strong episode of a show of which I am immensely proud to be a part. That will have to suffice for the time being. Nothing worth having comes easy, and Southland is a testament to that fact. No body who worked on this show doesn’t miss making it. We all hope we can make more of it. But at this point, the decision is out of our hands. The ratings have been solid (particularly the DVR numbers), but not spectacular. It is up to TNT to decide whether there will be more Southland. I would like to thank them for the enormous efforts they have undertaken on our behalf. They have believed in the show from Day 1, and have done a fantastic job promoting it and nurturing it along in the difficult transition from network to cable. Thank you, TNT.

Southland season 2 premiere tonight on TNT @ 10pm!

Ben was in-studio with Ryan Seacrest on his radio show. You can listen to Ben’s interview here!

Photo credit: Jessicachenow