RIALTO CHATTER: Roseanne Barr Headed to Broadway?

The New York Post's Cindy Adams is reporting that Roseanne Barr might be headed to Broadway. "That is, I could be coming to Broadway. I sure want to" told the star to the gossip columnist. "That's even if there's something to know... actually it could even be off-Broadway. Right now it was just a reading, but I'm excited about the possibility. Look ... who knows?" 

The television star appeared in a reading on Monday of "Blood From a Stone", a new play currently in development by The New Group. Directed by Scott Elliott, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Natasha Lyonne also appeared in the reading. After 9 years, 224 episodes, 4 Emmy awards, and countless other accolades, Roseanne Barr's creation and stark portrayal of "Roseanne Conner" and the Conner family on ABC's Roseanne has been hailed as "the most ground breaking kitchen-sink sitcom since All in the Family, (Entertainment Weekly)" adding, "she's the funniest disturber of peace that we have."

Immediately after Roseanne finished its May 1997, Roseanne quite literally flew to embark on a new challenge, portraying The Wicked Witch of the West in the Madison Square Garden production of The Wizard of Oz. "She is a mixture of Othello and Ted Bundy. She's definitely a serial killer," said Roseanne describing her interpretation of The Witch.

In the fall of 1998, Roseanne hosted her own talk show for two seasons. The Roseanne Show established itself as one of the most successful launches of a syndicated, not only domestically, but in thirty foreign countries.

Roseanne's autobiographies, "Roseanne: My Life as a Woman" and "My Lives" (published in 1994) also established her as a best-selling author.

Roseanne also served as the executive producer of Saturday Night Special, a late-night, cutting edge variety show for FOX-TV. The series, described as "SNL meets MTV", premiered in April 1996. It featured outrageous comedy antics, some of the most exciting musicals acts in the world, innovative short films and off-the-wall novelty acts.

In 1993, Roseanne was awarded an Emmy as Best Actress in a Comedy Series, the first of many major awards bestowed on the comedienne. She was also named Best Actress in a Comedy Series at the American Television Awards, received two Golden Globe Awards for Roseanne as well as six People's Choice Awards, two American Comedy Awards and the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award in 1990 in recognition of her contribution to the world of television. The series was honored with a Peabody Award, one of the most prestigious awards in broadcasting. Roseanne was awarded the Eleanor Roosevelt Award given by the American Democratic Association to outstanding American women. She has also received two Humanitas Awards presented to programming that most truly communicates human values to their audience. Roseanne was honored with The Jack Benny Award, and was the second woman ever to be roasted by the Friars Club.

Roseanne received the Lucy Award which is presented annually by Women in Film and named after Lucille Ball, and was among the recipients of the 1997 American Comedy Honors. In November 1998, she participated in the State of the World Forum at San Francisco's Masonic Temple where she moderated a panel in front of 2,000 people with the theme Rising from the Ashes. The participants consisted of young people from around the world who have been victims of war and political oppression.

Roseanne recently returned to her roots and began touring select cities in the U.S. and U.K. with her hilarious one woman show. Her performance, featuring all new material, received standing ovations at her recent engagement in Philadelphia.

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski