Irene Worth has played a nasty grandma and a bubbly housewife up to her neck in sand, but New York audiences will now get a chance to see her as a gypsy tease and a randy bullfighter. Beginning previews April 15, Worth will offer a dramatic reading of her own adaptation of Prosper Merimee's Carmen, titled The Gypsy And The Yellow Canary. The actress will play both Carmen and her suitor, Don Jose. The show premiered at London's Almeida Theatre during the celebrated run of "A Week's Worth:" four performances by the veteran actress, including Irene Worth's Portrait Of Edith Wharton, Rehearsing With Mr. Eliot and Chere Maitre (with Peter Eyre). Worth brought the Wharton piece to the Public in 1994.

The NY premiere of Gypsy will be presented in Martinson Hall, which will be redesigned as an intimate cabaret (99-seats) for the show. The show, which has yet to announce an official opening date, runs to May 18, Worth won a Tony for playing Grandma Kurnitz in 1991's Lost In Yonkers (a role she reprised in the film) and is also well-remembered as Winnie in Samuel Beckett's Happy Days.

For tickets ($25) and information on The Gypsy And The Yellow Canary, adapted, directed and performed by Irene Worth, call (212) 260-2400.

--By David Lefkowitz