An upcoming Bermuda Festival play may have to switch its name from ?The Unexpected Man? to the ?Unexpected Woman? after cast changes were announced yesterday.

?Due to the unexpectedly prohibitive nature of her filming schedule for ABC?s ?Desperate Housewives?, Ms Harriet Harris will be unable to appear as scheduled in the Bermuda Festival?s upcoming performances of ?The Unexpected Man?,? said Bermuda Festival Chairman Geoffrey Moore.

Ms Harris was expected to play alongside Charles Shaughnessy in ?The Unexpected Man?, a play about a writer and his fan accidentally finding themselves in a train car compartment together.

?The fact that she can?t do it because she is in ?Desperate Housewives?, shows the calibre of the people we are bringing to the Island,? said the play?s director, Bermudian Joel Froomkin.

Ms Harris is being replaced by Broadway stalwart Judy Kuhn.

?Judy is literally Broadway royalty,? said Mr. Froomkin. ?I want people to understand that we are in no way trading down.?

Mr. Moore said he was also delighted to have Ms Kuhn.

?Ms Kuhn has been nominated for three Tony awards and three Drama Desk Awards for her work On and Off-Broadway,? said Mr. Moore.

Ms Kuhn has appeared in the Broadway premieres of both ?Chess? and ?Les Miserables?. She sang the title role in Disney?s ?Pocahontas? as well as the sequel ?Pocahontas: Journey To A New World?. She has appeared on numerous television shows, including ?Law & Order? (NBC), ?All My Children? (ABC) and ?In Performance at the White House? (PBS).

?Ms Kuhn has performed on concert stages around the world including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and The Royal Albert Hall, and she can be heard on numerous original cast recordings, as well as on her solo album ?Just In Time: Judy Kuhn Sings Jule Styne?,? said Mr. Moore.

?We would like to acknowledge Ms. Kuhn?s remarkable commitment in the face of so brief a period of preparation and look forward to her performance alongside Charles Shaughnessy.?

?The Unexpected Man? will be performed on January 31st, February 1st and February 2nd, at the City Hall Theatre at 8 p.m.

For more information please visit the Bermuda Festival website .