Ikeda to Star in Off-Broadway Premiere of Leah's Train

By Adam Hetrick
12 Jan 2009

Jennifer Ikeda will star in the National Asian American Theatre Company's world premiere of Karen Hartman's Leah's Train Off-Broadway.

Jean Randich (The Dispute) directs Hartman's intergenerational work that runs Feb. 6-28 at the TBG Theatre. Opening night is set for Feb. 10.

Ikeda (Top Girls) will lead a cast that includes Raphael Aranas, Louis Ozawa Changchein ("Robot Stories"), Kristine Haruna Lee and Mia Katigbak (Dogeaters).

Leah's Train, according to press notes, is described as such: "Three generations of love and anger are ignited when a young doctor refuses to attend her grandmother's funeral and what transpires after she boards a train, and its destination mysteriously becomes her Russian Jewish family's untold history."

Leah's Train is a departure for NAATCO, which has earned acclaim for its Asian-American productions of Western classics, including Our Town and Long Day's Journey Into Night. The world premiere is part of a larger mission to expand NAATCO productions to include new works about non-Asian people, performed by an all-Asian cast.

"This new initiative is inspired by courageous playwrights who agree with NAATCO that Asian Americans are capable of interpreting characters from a multitude of cultures. The world premiere of Leah's Train, in which characters who are Russian and American Jews are being created by an all Asian American cast, comes at an auspicious time: the historic inauguration of an African American president. What better way to celebrate the richness of American culture," said NAATCO artistic director Mia Katigbak in a statement.

Creative duties for Leah's Train will be announced shortly.

For tickets, priced $20, phone (212) 868-4444 or visit Smarttix.com. The TBG Theatre is located at 312 West 36th Street.

For further information visit NAATCO.