Bette Midler to Make Broadway Return in New John Logan Penned One-Woman Play About Sue Mengers?

Michael Riedel reports in today's New York Post that Bette Midler is the top candidate to play legendary Hollywood agent Sue Mengers on Broadway in a new play by Tony-winner John Logan. Riedel reports that "She's interested in Logan's play - as yet untitled - because, says a source, "a one-person show isn't as risky as shouldering a big musical." That - and the fact that Mengers is a hell of a character."

Sue Mengers, who died in 2011 at 79, was a talent agent to many significant filmmakers and actors of the New Hollywood generation of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s including Candice Bergen, Peter Bogdanovich, Michael Caine, Dyan Cannon, Cher, Joan Collins, Brian De Palma, Faye Dunaway, Bob Fosse, Gene Hackman, Sidney Lumet, Ali MacGraw, Steve McQueen, Mike Nichols, Nick Nolte, Tatum O'Neal, Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, Cybill Shepherd, Barbra Streisand, Gore Vidal, and Tuesday Weld, among others.

Bette Midler recently produced the recent Broadway musical "Priscilla Queen of the Desert.' She made her Broadway debut playing Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof. Thereafter, she began singing in clubs around town including at the famed Continental Baths where she developed the trademark act that would make her one of the most renowned talents of a generation--bawdy humor, revealing costumes and a distinctive voice made for an act that was poignant, tacky and altogether fabulous. Her performances of songs like Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Delta Dawn, and Superstar were unforgettable and caused audiences to fall in love with the self-anointed "Divine Miss M." Bette's first album, The Divine Miss M, hit #9 on Billboard's Top 200 Chart and went platinum. In 1973, she won her first Grammy for Best New Artist. After successfully touring the world, she returned to Broadway in the Tony winning, Clams On The Halfshell.

Midler's first starring role in the feature film, The Rose, garnered two Golden Globe Awards, a Grammy for the film's title song and a best actress Oscar nomination. Additional films include Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Ruthless People, Outrageous Fortune, Big Business and her most popular movie, Beaches. Forty years, four Grammys, four Golden Globes, three Emmys, a Tony Award and tons of record-breaking performances since she hit the scene, the "Divine Miss M" is still going strong.

John Logan received the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critic Circle and Drama League Awards for his play Red. He is the author of more than a dozen other plays, including Never the Sinner andHauptmann. His adaptation of Ibsen's The Master Builder premiered on the West End in 2003. As a screenwriter, John had three movies released in 2011: Hugo, Coriolanus and Rango. Previous film work includes Sweeney Todd (Golden Globe Award), The Aviator (Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and WGA nominations), Gladiator (Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and WGA nominations), The Last Samurai, Any Given Sunday and RKO 281 (WGA Award, Emmy nomination).