Hollywood star Jeff Gold-blum is returning to the London stage after hailing his last experience as the best time he had ever had.
The star of films such as The Fly and Jurassic Park will work with his friend Kevin Spacey and the Old Vic for a second time.
But because the Old Vic itself is already booked with Sam Mendes's double bill of plays known as the Bridge Project, the theatre is to make its first trip into the West End.
Goldblum will appear in The Prisoner of Second Avenue by Tony Award-winning playwright Neil Simon at the Vaudeville Theatre from June 30.
The actor made his London debut two years ago when he co-starred with Spacey at the Old Vic in David Mamet's Speed the Plow.
He said he was "so grateful and thrilled" to be coming back. "My recent experience at the Old Vic was the best time I've ever had. To work with Kevin Spacey, my friend and a true genius, will be delicious," he said.
He described the Old Vic team as "a sterling, nourishing and gorgeous family" and said he had been in love with Neil Simon's work his entire life. "He's not only a comic genius, as everyone knows, but sage in matters in soul as well," he said.
Announcing the new venture today, Spacey said it was an exciting development to be bringing the work of the Old Vic, where he is artistic director, to a new space and a wider audience. He added that he was delighted that Goldblum wanted to come back: "We had such a great experience together in Speed the Plow and I couldn't be happier that he's going to appear in this remarkable play."
Set in the Seventies, The Prisoner of Second Avenue is a black comedy about a New York couple enduring the tribulations of life. It will be directed by Terry Johnson, whose La Cage aux Folles has been nominated for 11 Tony awards on Broadway.
The play tops a busy summer for the Old Vic. The company last night opened Ditch, a new play by Beth Steel in tunnels at Waterloo. Stephen Dillane and Juliet Rylance will appear in The Tempest and As You Like It directed by Mendes.
