"It's going to come straight to Broadway," said Leon. "It'll probably be like a 20-week run."

The play would be Leon's fourth on Broadway, after the recent revival of A Raisin in the Sun starring Sean Combs, the Broadway debut of August Wilson's The Gem of the Ocean and the upcoming production of Wilson's last play, Radio Golf. Leon is currently directing Radio Golf at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.

Leon completed filming on a television version of Raisin in December. It will air in September 2007.

Leon expressed satisfaction that he was finally getting the opportunity to direct Williams on Broadway. "I've studied Tennessee Williams all my life," he said, "but when five or six Williams plays were done in New York over a two-year period recently, they did not call out to an African-American director to direct them."

Cat was last seen on Broadway during the 2003-04 season in a production that starred Ashley Judd, Jason Patric and Ned Beatty. Anthony Page directed.