Word comes via the Daily Mail that the third Mrs. Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, is in talks to make her Broadway debut this fall in a prestige production of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons." Two-time Tony winner John Lithgow and two-time Oscar winner Dianne Wiest will play the parents of her World War II pilot boyfriend, who crashed after hearing of his father's imprisonment for war profiteering.

With such star-studded support, all under the sure hand of acclaimed British actor/director Simon McBurney, Holmes, who has not acted on the stage since high school, could do well. In the surprisingly small world of show biz, McBurney's most recent acting job was as one of Nicole Kidman's minions in "The Golden Compass."

Ten years ago, Kidman won a Theater World award for her Broadway debut in "The Blue Room." That sizzling adaptation by David Hare of Arthur Schnitzler's "La Ronde" was a showcase for Kidman and her co-star Iain Glen. Each played five roles in a circular story of love and lust that required them both to strip down. Though they and the play got good reviews, the hoopla turned off Tony voters, who snubbed the show.

Audiences certainly won't see as much of Holmes when she plays the prim and proper Ann Deever. However, as her character is the catalyst for the family feud that has the surviving son challenging his father, she will get a chance to show off her acting chops. And by making her debut in a stage classic, Holmes could have an edge over Kidman when it comes to awards season. Those appearing in revivals of previous Tony winners often nab nominations.

The play was Miller's first success, following the failure three years earlier of the inaptly named "The Man Who Had All the Luck," which ran for a mere four performances. When "All My Sons" debuted on Broadway in 1947, it won Tonys for both the playwright and the director, Elia Kazan, as well as the New York Drama Critics Circle award, edging out Eugene O'Neill's epic, "The Iceman Cometh."