"I'm signed to do Boheme until July," Miller told Playbill On-Line columnist Wayman Wong, "and we're negotiating an extension, but I'm off in April to do a world premiere of an opera at La Scala. It's Marco Tutino's Vita [based on Margaret Edson's Wit]."

Wit is about a John Donne scholar whose bloodless, academic life is rocked when she discovers she has cancer. Miller would play the role of the callow, hot-shot doctor who treats the stricken professor.

The play started quietly at Off-Broadway MCC Theater. After winning some of the best reviews in memory, it extended several times and eventually found a commercial home at the Union Square Theater. The production starred Kathleen Chalfant in a role that won her great acclaim.

It was not clear whether Edson helped in the adaptation of the work. After Wit debuted, Edson, a first-time playwright, made it clear she intended not to write another play.

La Scala is in Milan and is one of the most famous opera houses in the world. "Vita" means "life" in Italian.