RIALTO CHATTER: Baldwin Turns Down BORN YESTERDAY Revival?

Adding to a story in today's New York Post, columnist Michael Riedel is now reporting that Alec Baldwin has passed on starring in a revival of the Garson Kanin play, Born Yesterday and is still said to be looking for a new play. 

Earlier this month (according to a previous Riedel report), Baldwin led a reading of the piece alongside Nina Arianda (Venus in Fur).  In the reading, Baldwin played Harry Brock, a weathly business man who bribes congressmen, while Arianda portrayed his blonde, airheaded lover, Billie Dawn.  Josh Charles (The Good Wife) also partook in the reading. Doug Hughes (Doubt, The Royal Family, Oleanna) directed.

It's now unknown if the play will still aim to return to Broadway with a new star. 

To read Riedel's full report in the New York Post, click here.

In Born Yesterday, an uncouth, corrupt tycoon, Harry Brock, brings his showgirl Mistress Billie Dawn with him to Washington, D.C. When Billie's ignorance becomes a liability to Brock's business dealings, he hires a journalist, Paul Verrall, to educate his girlfriend. In the process of learning, Billie Dawn realizes how corrupt her boyfriend is and begins interfering with his plans to bribe a Congressman into passing legislation that would allow Brock's business to make more money.

Baldwin was last seen onstage at the John Drew Theatre in East Hampton in Equus this summer. He first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera "Knots Landing," which aired on CBS from 1984 to 1986. He has since played both leading and supporting roles in films such as "Beetlejuice" (1988), "The Hunt for Red October" (1990), "Glengarry Glen Ross" (1992), "The Aviator" (2004), "The Departed" (2006) and most recently "It's Complicated" (2009), with Meryl Streep. His performance in the 2003 film "The Cooler" garnered him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination. He currently stars as Jack Donaghy on the hit NBC sitcom 30 Rock. He has received two Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.

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