Will Martin Short Join Broadway's Starry It's Only a Play?

The star-packed Broadway production of Terrence McNally's It's Only a Play is setting box-office records left and right, but it's scheduled to end its limited run at the Schoenfeld Theatre on January 4. Will it extend its run, and will its original cast, led by Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, remain intact?

Rumors flying around 45th Street detail that the production and nearly all of its cast will, in fact, extend through the spring, though Lane will depart, as he has a pre-scheduled commitment for February: reprising his highly acclaimed performance as Hickey in the Goodman Theatre production of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh at BAM.

Word is that Lane will be replaced in the role of bitter TV actor James Wicker by Tony winner Martin Short, in his first Broadway gig since his 2006 show, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. A spokesperson for the production could not confirm this rumor.

What's left in question is where the production would continue. The Schoenfeld Theatre is scheduled to play house to Helen Mirren and Queen Elizabeth II in Peter Morgan's drama The Audience beginning February 17. Which means one of the shows would have to move. And the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, right next door, will be open when Once ends its run, also on January 4.

Get the moving van ready.