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Once again, the Shubert Alley Cat's out of the bag, prowling the boards in Tennessee Williams' little den of mendacity. This time around, however, there's something new. The director's a woman. Multi-talented Debbie Allen makes her Broadway directorial debut with the fifth Main Stem incarnation of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

When we spoke, previews were in progress (prior to last Thursday's opening), but rehearsals continued. Explains Allen, "We're still exploring material and refining performances."

Cast in the above roles are three Tony winners — James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose — plus Terrence Howard (his Broadway bow), Giancarlo Esposito and Lisa Arrindell Anderson. (One of Howard's three children, ten-year-old Heaven, plays the "no-neck" Dixie).

Directing Rashad (her sister) is a delight, notes Allen. "I changed the whole tone of a scene today, and she loved it. She explores and discovers, smolders and excavates. And I love Anika Noni Rose [a Caroline, or Change Tony winner, and one of the movies' "Dreamgirls"]. She works so hard. Her interpretation of Maggie is brand new."

Ben Brantley's New York Times review stated, "The big question...was whether Ms. Rose...would be able to hold her own in such daunting company...Ms. Rose more than holds her own. She...runs the show whenever she's onstage, and when she's not, the show misses her management."

Big Daddy's vulgar language is thought by some to be new, but it was penned by Williams himself in a 1974 revision. As stated in a New York Times article at the time, the playwright "substituted expletives for euphemisms."

James Earl Jones was quoted in Vanity Fair: "When the play was written, you couldn't utter certain words...I love saying — well, you know — onstage." In '74, Williams also restored an ambiguous ending that he'd changed (at director Elia Kazan's request) in the original 1955 production.

Cat had the longest run and was the biggest hit of any of Williams' dramas, earning him a second Pulitzer Prize; his first was for A Streetcar Named Desire (which has had seven Broadway productions). Upon publication of his preferred adaptation, he called Cat his favorite play.

Reveals Allen, "There are four versions — one with Brick standing up to Maggie, others with and without Big Daddy's elephant story [not in the current production]. We made a few adjustments, with the estate's permission."

Allen saw the film version (complete with a revised, happy ending) years ago. "I couldn't remember it. When I was brought in, they gave me a DVD. But it wouldn't play. I thought: 'Okay, I'm not supposed to see it.' [Laughs]

"We were born in [Houston], Texas, and always called our father [dentist Andrew Allen, nicknamed Tex] 'Big Daddy.'" She has two siblings involved. Besides Rashad, "my brother Tex [born Andrew, Jr.] wrote the music for this production. My mom [Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet Vivian Ayers] is coming to opening night, with my other brother Hugh."

Starting as a dancer, Allen's talents include choreographer (for Carrie, and several Oscar ceremonies), actor (among her credits are "Ragtime" and "Roots: The Next Generation," and she's known as Lydia Grant from the film and later TV's "Fame," 1982-87), director (stage, plus 200 TV shows), producer, lyricist, Kennedy Center artistic director, dance instructor, columnist and author (two children's books).

Emmy-nominated 14 times (as choreographer, actor, director), she's received three for choreography (1982, 1983, 1991), and also won a 1983 Golden Globe for her "Fame" role. When does Allen rest? "I don't sleep well; I'm always thinking."

Purlie, the musical version of Ossie Davis' Purlie Victorious, marked Allen's Broadway debut, as "a replacement [dancer], just before it went on the road." Raisin followed (the musical based on A Raisin in the Sun, for which Allen was hired as a lead dancer.

During the tryout engagement, she also understudied the role of Beneatha. "The actress playing the part called in sick." Allen went on, and "they gave me the part, plus $50 more a week. In one scene, Mama slaps Beneatha. She hauled off, and I was still crying three days later. But I learned to duck. It was a great start."

Billed on Broadway as Deborah Allen, her first name was changed "when I went to Hollywood." Returning to New York as Debbie Allen, she very much wanted to play Anita in the 1980 Broadway revival of West Side Story.

"All the creators — Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Laurents — were there. I'll never forget that show," which earned her a Tony nomination and a Drama Desk Award.

Bob Fosse's 1986 revival of Sweet Charity, Allen's most recent Broadway appearance, cast her in the title role, for which she received Tony and Drama Desk nominations. Fosse was an inspiration. "In rehearsals, you could look up any time, and Bob would be right there. He was the best!" Gwen Verdon, the original Charity, was often at rehearsals, and Allen has warm memories of her. "She was so funny."

They worked together in a 1998 all-star benefit concert of the musical with Allen singing "Where Am I Going?" and Verdon acting the closet scene, where Charity hides from a movie star's paramour, smokes a cigarette, and exhales into a garment bag. (Verdon once told me that Fosse created the closet scene. It's all that remains of his attempt to write the show's book, before assigning it to Neil Simon.)

Carrie, the musical based on a Stephen King novel, marked Allen's debut as choreographer. "We did it in London [starring Barbara Cook]. Then we came to New York [closing after 16 previews, five performances]. Betty Buckley [who took over Cook's role] was amazing! It had a wonderful score [by Michael Gore (music) and Dean Pitchford (lyrics)]. Terry Hands [the Royal Shakespeare Company's artistic director, who directed, co-produced, and designed the lighting] was British. He didn't understand American proms. Because of the way they were dressed, all the high-school [kids] looked 40."

Which of Allen's roles has given her the most satisfaction? She's "hard-pressed to answer. I loved being Charity Hope Valentine, but I guess I'd have to choose Anita."

Since 1984 Allen's been married to former NBA player Norman Nixon. Daughter Vivian is a dancer; son Norman, Jr. (nicknamed Thump), a college sophomore. Vivian Nixon appeared on Broadway in Hot Feet. A special kick for her proud mom was when Vivian "played Anita in West Side Story in Paris. She was amazing!"

Upcoming for Allen is The Bayou Legend, "a musical based on Peer Gynt," for which Allen is lyricist and director. James Ingram composed the music. Also on tap: "a movie based on 'Dancing in the Wings,'" her second children's book. (The other's "Brothers of the Knight.")

"Tennessee's words inspired the set [for the current production]," Allen points out. "He wrote that things should be almost invisible. We use scrims. I worked closely with the scenic designer [Ray Klausen] and the lighting designer [William Grant] to develop a beautiful new look."

Not intimidated by previous productions, the director asks, "How many ways are there of doing Julius Caesar? It's going to the same river, but stepping in different water." Please raise your mint juleps to toast Debbie Allen.

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History of a Play: Following are various versions of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, with the usual order of roles — Maggie, Brick, Big Daddy, Big Mama, Gooper, and Mae.

Barbara Bel Geddes (Tony nominee), Ben Gazzara (whose understudy was Cliff Robertson), Burl Ives, Mildred Dunnock, Pat Hingle and Madeleine Sherwood were the leads in the original 1955 production. Also Tony-nominated: the play, director Kazan and Jo Mielziner's set design.

Patricia Neal took Bel Geddes' place while the actress went on a three-week vacation. Neal once told me, "I loved playing Maggie. I'd done a scene at the [Actors] Studio, and then Kazan put me in the Broadway company."

Directly following the replacement stint, Kazan cast Neal as the female lead in "A Face in the Crowd" opposite Andy Griffith. Jack Lord, and later Alex Nicol, succeeded Gazzara. The play ran 694 performances.

1974: Elizabeth Ashley (Tony nominee), Keir Dullea, Fred Gwynne, Kate Reid, Charles Siebert and Joan Pape. (It played two previews, 160 performances.)

The 1990 production's players were Kathleen Turner (Tony nominee), Daniel Hugh Kelly, Charles Durning (Tony winner), Polly Holiday (Tony nominee), Kevin O'Rourke and Debra Jo Rupp. (Nine previews, 149 performances.)

Leads for the most recent (2003) Broadway revival were Ashley Judd (succeeded by Kelly McAndrew), Jason Patric, Ned Beatty, Margo Martindale (Tony nominee), Michael Mastro and Amy Hohn. (It played 28 previews, 145 performances.)

John Carradine and Mercedes McCambridge toured (as the elder Pollitts) in the 1970s. According to Carradine, a tall, gaunt man, Williams had envisioned Big Daddy exactly that way, and Carradine had been offered the role initially. Due to a conflict, he was unable to accept.

Long Wharf produced the play's 1955 original version in 1984 with Christine Lahti, Peter Weller, Stefan Gierasch, Jan Miner, Beeson Carroll and Pamela Payton Wright. Kennedy Center's 2004 production featured Mary Stuart Masterson, Jeremy Davidson, George Grizzard, Dana Ivey, T. Scott Cunningham and Emily Skinner. Gerald Gutierrez had been scheduled to direct, but died. Mark Lamos took over.

Movies and TV: M-G-M's 1958 film version, adapted and directed by Richard Brooks, starred Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Judith Anderson, Jack Carson and Madeleine Sherwood.

Nominated for six Oscars, it won none. Ives did win as Best Supporting Actor, but for "The Big Country." He was not nominated as Big Daddy. It's available on DVD.

Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner, Laurence Olivier (who co-produced), Maureen Stapleton, Jack Hedley and Mary Peach played in a TV adaptation that aired Dec. 6, 1976, and was poorly received by critics.

Williams' restored version, with sexual innuendos (and Big Daddy's elephant story), but sans expletives, aired on Showtime (Aug. 19, 1984) and on PBS (June 24, 1985). Jessica Lange, Tommy Lee Jones, Rip Torn, Kim Stanley (Emmy winner, in a sterling last performance), David Dukes and Penny Fuller (Emmy nominee) starred. Available on DVD.

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