"Boeing-Boeing" may have flopped when it first ran on Broadway in 1965, but the new rialto revival of this French farce opened Sunday to solid reviews. Emmy winner Bradley Whitford struggles to juggle three stewardesses (Gina Gershon, Kathryn Hahn, and Mary McCormack) with the help of his housekeeper (Christine Baranski) and best friend (Mark Rylance). The show is nominated for best revival by both the Drama Desk and the Drama League and could well make it into the final four at the Tony Awards too.

While this marks the Broadway debut for England's Mark Rylance, he starred in the smash 2007 London production of this bon bon of a comedy. For that, he was nominated for the Olivier Award, as was Patrick Stewart for "Macbeth." Though both lost that race to "Othello" star Chiwetel Ejiofor, they could well find themselves competing for the Tony Award next month.

Rylance, who is best known for his Shakespearean roles –- he won the Olivier Award in 1993 for "Much Ado About Nothing" and served as artistic director of the Globe Theater for a decade –- has already picked up a Drama Desk nod and is one of 69 actors competing for the Drama League performance prize. Ben Brantley of the New York Times said, "he exercises a supremely graceful clumsiness and hang-dog cheer that evokes the great Buster Keaton" while declaring the show "has no earthly right to be as funny as it is."

Before becoming an Emmy winner for "Cybill," Christine Baranski had two Tony Awards on her shelf for best featured actress ("The Real Thing," "Rumors"). And she could well be competing again this year in that category. She too is up for the Drama League prize. As per Joe Dziemianowicz of the New York Daily News, "the seasoned joker lays on the French accent thicker than a sauce béarnaise -- and it works."

Photo: Mary McCormack as a flight attendant and Christine Baranski as a high-strung housekeeper in "Boeing-Boeing." (Longacre Theater)