Film actor Alec Baldwin, who has appeared on stage in Prelude to a Kiss and A Streetcar Named Desire, has signed to play the title role in William Shakespeare's Macbeth Off-Broadway in winter 1998.

Variety reported that Baldwin will be directed by multiple Tony winner George C. Wolfe at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre, with rehearsals to start in January. Playbill On-Line confirmed the report with the theatre's press office.

No Lady Macbeth has been cast, according to the report.

It will be fascinating to follow the development of this production. Macbeth, the story of a Scottish nobleman who murders his way to the throne with the help of a little supernatural advice, is the focus of intense superstition in the theatrical world. The play is believed to be cursed, and productions -- especially big star productions -- are, coincidentally or not, attended by an unusual number of mishaps.

The last Broadway revival -- starring Christopher Plummer and Glenda Jackson -- went through three directors, a number of designers and support personnel, and had legendary problems with sets and tempers. Actors will not even speak the name of the play aloud, especially when inside a theatre, preferring to refer to it as "the Scottish play."

On a personal note, the first time Playbill On-Line used the title in a headline on the home page, our server shut down. If you're reading this now, it's only through the grace of Thanos and Melpomene.

-- By Robert Viagas