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James Earl Jones shot to fame as boxer Jack Jefferson in Howard Sacklers 1967 play The Great White Hope. Jones won the Tony and, two years later, was nominated for an Oscar in the film version.

Now it may be the rapper commonly known as Commons turn.

Common (the former Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr.) appeared in a reading the other week for a handful of producers and investors who are trying to get the play back in the ring, so to speak.

The reading went well, a source says, adding that Common was excellent.

The 41-year-old is eager to play the part and, Im told, has even offered to help finance the production.

But the bean counters are wary. The play has a cast of 25, and sources say a full-scale Broadway revival would cost nearly $4 million. Which means that, unless everybody agrees to work for scale (with a percentage of the profits thrown in if the productions a hit), Broadway is simply not realistic.

I think theyll have to hook up with one of the nonprofits, a source says. Its something the Roundabout could and should do. Its a lot more interesting than putting on Cabaret again.

It wasnt easy raising money for the original production. Despite the raves that greeted the premiere at Washington, DCs Arena Stage, backers were nowhere to be found. Sackler financed the show himself, using the $225,000 he earned from the sale of the play to Hollywood.

When the Broadway production took off, Sackler became a multimillionaire.

But he spent money as fast as he made it mainly on houses and cars and he never had another payday like The Great White Hope.

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Rapper Common to take a turn on Broadway