The spokesman for Broadway's National Actors Theatre denied Dec. 5 a Dec. 2 Associated Press report that NAT is moving to North Carolina.

Spokesman Gary Springer said Randall has been doing some consulting work in the area, where he has in-laws, and that if a new theatre is started in the area, some of its productions may wind up at NAT.

But, Springer said, "It's not going to be the new home of National Actors Theatre."

The AP reported that actor Randall was considering moving his Broadway brainchild, the six-year-old National Actors Theatre, to North Carolina.

The 77-year-old actor, who appeared in Oh, Captain and other shows on Broadway, and who won lasting fame as Felix on the TV version of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, was reported by AP to have told leaders of Durham, NC, that he was considering the move for the sake of his daughter, 8 months, and the child his wife is now carrying. "I'm thinking that New York isn't the best place to raise two small children," AP reported him saying. "I didn't have to think about that until I was 77 years old."

Springer said AP misunderstood Randall's words.

Randall is currently in Broadway previews with a revival of another Simon comedy, The Sunshine Boys, under the auspices of NAT. Sunshine Boys, which co-stars his Odd Couple partner Jack Klugman, opens Dec. 8 at the Lyceum Theatre.

Randall has invested a reported $6 million of his own money in NAT, which he had envisioned as a company of first-rate actors doing plays to showcase their talents.

NAT has had several hits, including Timon of Athens and Inherit the Wind, but has been struggling to present a full season of shows.

-- By Robert Viagas