Nicole Kidman Eyes West End Mounting of Hedda Gabler

Will Nicole Kidman make a return the stage in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler? According to The Evening Standard, the Academy Award winner will appear in a West End production of the classic drama in the spring or summer of 2006.

Kidman is one of Hollywood's hottest actresses. Her film credits include Dead Calm, Flirting, Far and Away, To Die For for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical, Portrait of a Lady, Eyes Wide Shut, Moulin Rouge which earned her another Golden Globe, The Hours for which she earned an Academy Award and her third Golden Globe, Birthday Girl, The Human Stain, Cold Mountain, The Stepford Wives, Birth, The Interpreter and Bewitched.

Kidman made an impression on Broadway in the hit 1998 production of The Blue Room. Kidman starred in the David Hare play in both London and New York, earning a Theatre World Award for her performance. In recent years, she has been rumored for many theatrical projects--among them Henrik Ibsen's The Lady From The Sea, Sam Mendes repertory productions of Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night and a Broadway revival of The Philadelphia Story. However, her busy schedule made appearing in the shows impossible.

Hedda Gabler, written in 1891, tells the story of a woman whose explosive struggle to survive alters the lives of those around her as the fire inside her burns to a tragic end. American Daniel Kramer will likely helm this production of Hedda Gabler.

Next spring New York will have its own mounting of Hedda Gabler with an Oscar winner playing the titular character. Cate Blanchett will star in the play at the Brooklyn Academy of Music BAM, with performances for a limited four-week engagement beginning on March 1, 2006.