Four-time Tony winner Angela Lansbury, a presenter at this year's award ceremonies, put a stop to the speculation and told the press outright, "I'm happy to say I am coming back to Broadway, and I hope to be back within 18 months to two years. It will take that long to get it put together and underway. I'd say we'd open in New York in two years."

The vehicle is The Visit, which served The Lunts well in 1958 (it was their final stage outing). This new Visit has a book by Terrence McNally and songs by John Kander and Freb Ebb, the Tony-winning trio of Kiss of the Spider Woman. McNally won the 1998 Tony Award June 7 for Ragtime; Kander & Ebb wrote Cabaret, Chicago and Steel Pier, among many others.

Friedrich Durrenmatt wrote the original play, a dark and brooding drama of outlandish revenge. "I think it was make a fantastic musical," said Lansbury. "It's a wonderful story about an elderly woman -- thank God! -- who arrives in a town to seek revenge for a wrong that was perpetrated on her by a lover when they both young."

Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn starred in the 1964 film version. The Roundabout revived the play in 1992 with Harris Yulin and a Tony-nominated Jane Alexander.

--