Halle Berry won't star in B'way play

NEW YORK, April 18 (UPI) -- Halle Berry will not star in the Broadway production

of Katori Hall's play, "The Mountaintop," as planned this fall, the show's producers said Monday.

The stage drama, directed by Kenny Leon, is to star Samuel L. Jackson as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a fictionalized account of the night before the civil rights activist was assassinated in 1968.

Berry was to play Camae, a maid at Memphis' Lorraine Motel where King was killed, but producers told The New York Times, "Ms. Berry would not be appearing in the role due to child custody issues."

Berry has been working out arrangements with her ex-boyfriend, French-Canadian model Gabriel Aubry, regarding the custody of their 3-year-old daughter Nahla.

Berry's replacement is expected to be announced shortly, the Times said.