Cornelia, a Broadway-bound drama about Alabama Gov. George Wallace's run for the presidency, will get an invitation-only reading in New York the second week in August. No casting has been announced

Jerry Zaks, one of New York's busiest and most ambidextrous directors, has been announced to stage the drama on Broadway this fall, but no cast or dates have been confirmed.

Zaks' resume includes the Nathan Lane revivals of Guys and Dolls and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Stephen Sondheim's Assassins, the long-running Smokey Joe's Cafe revue, plus dramas Six Degrees of Separation and the recent Off Broadway The Cripple of Inishmaan.

Fran and Barry Weissler (Grease!, Chicago) are producing this world-premiere five-character play by Mark Victor Olsen, which examines Wallace's relationship with his second wife, Cornelia, and the assassination attempt that nearly ended his life. Wallace, a fiery opponent of school integration in the early 1960s, later moderated his views after the assassination attempt left him wheelchair-bound.

No casting has been announced. Production spokesman Pete Sanders said the play is hoping to open in October or November at a Broadway theatre TBA. As of June 29, casting and venue were still unnanounced, with no news expected until mid-July. Sanders described the play as "a love story." -- By Robert Viagas