Kathleen Chalfant will reprise her New York performance in Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winner Wit when it plays Jan. 18-Feb. 20, 2000 as part of the Geffen Playhouse's new season. Derek Anson Jones, who originally staged the play at the Long Wharf Theatre in Connecticut before the production transferred to the MCC Theatre in New York, will direct the Geffen production as well.

Chalfant is returning to L.A. for the first time since her appearance in Angels in America.

The Geffen's fourth season will kick off Sept. 28-Oct. 31 with a production of Uncle Vanya directed by Michael Langham. The latter has been directing for over fifty years and has served as artist director at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and the Juilliard School in New York. The Geffen's production marks Uncle Vanya's 100th anniversary.

The other plays on the Geffen's 1999-2000 schedule include: It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, the Randal Myler musical (Nov. 11-Dec. 19, 1999); Mizlansky/Zilinsky by Jon Robin Baitz, directed by Nicholas Martin (March 21-April 23, 2000); and a fifth play to be announced.

The Geffen Playhouse is located at 10886 Le Conte Ave. in Westwood. For tickets and information call (310) 208-5454. -- By Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent