"Don't speak!" Dianne Wiest's pickled movie star implores, memorably, in the Woody Allen comedy, "Bullets Over Broadway."

But is it possible she and the other Manhattanites of the picture may sing in a Broadway musical?

A spokesman at producer Martin Richards' office confirmed what had been seen in The New York Daily News: There are indeed ongoing "conversations" about a stage musical version of the 1994 movie comedy about theatre folk, gangsters and molls in the 1920s.

Marvin Hamlisch is quoted in The Daily News saying he's involved as composer. No other creative personnel have been mentioned, although speculation is that Allen would pen the libretto based on his screenplay (with Douglas McGrath).

As the mere mention of the show is just now dawning, the show itself probably would not be dimensional for a couple of seasons. "I'm very excited about the project," Hamlisch said in The Daily News. "Between now and August, let the lawyers worry about it. Then we'll worry about it."

Wiest won an Academy Award for her portrayal of a blotto stage star who headlines a young playwright's new work. John Cusack played the playwright who struggles with ideas of art vs. Entertainment and selling out vs. Integrity. His project end up bankrolled by mobsters who insist that a moll to play a pivotal role.

Along with Richards, Jean Doumanian, the longtime producing collaborator of Allen's films, has been mentioned as one of the producers of the proposed stage musical.

-- By Kenneth Jones