RIALTO CHATTER: James Franco to Join SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH?

James Franco, who was just announced as a 2011 Oscar co-host yesterday, is reportedly in talks to join Oscar winner Nicole Kidman in the upcoming Broadway revival of SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, according to Showbiz411.com.  Franco would appear as Chance Wayne, in the Fall 2011 production.

Franco can currently can be seen in "127 Hours." His other film credits include "Eat, Love, Pray," "Date Night," "Milk" and "Pineapple Express." Franco is also known for his portrayals of Harry Osborn in the "Spider-Man" trilogy.

SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH is a 1959 play by Tennessee Williams which tells the story of a gigolo and drifter, Chance Wayne, who returns to his home town as the accompaniment of a faded movie star (to be played by Kidman), Princess Kosmonopolis (a.k.a., Alexandra Del Lago), who he hopes to use to help him break into the movies. The main reason he returns to his home town is to get back what he had in his youth; primarily, his old girlfriend, whose father had run him out of town years before.

The show has been seen on Broadway twice with the original production (starring Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Sidney Blackmer, Madeleine Sherwood, Diana Hyland, Logan Ramsey, John Napier and Rip Torn) in 1959. A 1975 revival starred Christopher Walken and Irene Worth and won Worth a Tony Award for Best Actress. A London production in 1985 starred Lauren Bacall and later played Los Angeles.

It's been seen on the big and small screen as well, with Paul Newman, Geraldine Page and Shirley Night starring in a 1962 movie that was nominated for 3 Academy Awards, and a 1989 TV movie Starring ElizaBeth Taylor and Mark Harmon.

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