Fall looks unlikely for the U.S. premiere of Irish playwright Conor McPherson's Dublin Carol, although perhaps spring 2001 will bring the tale of an alcoholic undertaker to Broadway. The author's agent, Bill Craver at Writers and Artists, reached Sept. 20, said only that there was no new news on the show.

David Richenthal, named to produce back in May, was out of the country and unavailable for comment.

Dublin Carol premiered at the Old Vic in London earlier this year (later transferring to the Royal Court). The three-character play starred Brian Cox and was directed by Ian Rickson. Both Rickson and Cox would cross the Atlantic with the play, said sources close to the venture.

Cox is familiar with McPherson's work, having starred in the playwright's St. Nicholas in London and at Off-Broadway's Primary Stages in 1998.

Other McPherson plays seen in Manhattan included This Lime Tree Bower, also at Primary Stages, and The Weir, which played eight months on Broadway beginning in March 1999. Carol tells the story of an alcoholic man whose estranged daughter offers him a final chance for redemption. --By Christine Ehren
and Robert Simonson