Country artist Mary Chapin Carpenter will pen the music to a new stage musical version of the legendary Western, "Shane," according to a report in Variety.

Rocco Landesman, of Jujamcyn Theatres -- who will co-produce the tuner with Dodger Endemol Productions -- told the trade the show would arrive on Broadway in the 1999-2000 season. A spokesman at the Dodgers could not confirm the story. Landesman was not available for comment.

"Shane" is the archetypal story of a stranger who comes to a frontier town and sets things right. The original film -- which starred Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Jack Palance, and Brandon de Wilde -- inspired countless imitators, from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" to "Pale Rider" to virtually any action picture in which a single, enigmatic hero saves the day.

This would be the first foray into theatre for Chapin Carpenter, whose albums have sold millions over the past several years. Larry Cohen has been tapped to write the book.

-- By Robert Simonson