Abigail Breslin To Play Helen Keller On Broadway

Abigail Breslin, 13, will be making her Broadway debut playing the young deaf and blind Helen Keller. The Broadway revival of William Gibson's "The Miracle Worker" is scheduled to open March 3,2010 at Circle in the Square Theatre. Previews are set to begin Feb. 12.

Breslin told the Sacramento Bee, "I am so honored, I have read the biography of Helen Keller. So I've always known the story, and it's always been something I wanted to play. Helen is a hero of mine - for so many reasons. She never gave up on herself and she had so many people who believed in her like her teacher Annie Sullivan."

Breslin will play with Alison Pill. Pill will portray Annie Sullivan, the determined instructor who teaches the deaf and blind Helen how to communicate.

In 1960 "The Miracle Worker" won the Tony Award for Best Play. This revival marks the 50th anniversary of the play's Broadway debut. At the age of 94, the playwright William Gibson died in 2008.

Breslin received an Oscar nomination in 2007 for her role in "Little Miss Sunshine." She also has had parts in the movies "Signs," and most recently, "Zombieland."