Ruth Williamson, currently playing the heavy-lidded Biblical-epic actress in Broadway's Epic Proportions, will decry the reading of "dirty books" in the upcoming Broadway staging of The Music Man, she told Playbill On-Line.

Character actress Williamson (Little Me, The Green Heart, Queen Amarantha) will play Eulalie McKechnie Shinn, wife of the mayor of River City, IA, in the revival of the classic 1957 musical, to be directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman.

Craig Bierko, as previously announced, will have the title role of Prof. Harold Hill, who shakes up the town -- and the local librarian -- with his idea of creating a boys' marching band. Bierko is primarily known as a film actor, in "The Thirteenth Floor" and "The Long Kiss Goodnight."

Williamson said offers have been made and she intends to play the reactionary, provincial first lady. Rehearsals are expected to begin in December.

Complete casting is expected to be announced in the next few weeks. The revival, produced by Dodger Endemol Productions, is expected to open at a Broadway theatre before April 2000.