Nicole Kidman glows in the dark. Curled knees-up on a seat in the orchestra of Broadway’s Cort Theater, taking a break from a rehearsal of her smash-hit play “The Blue Room,” she studies the stage intently, her face so luminous you could read a program by it. Kidman’s incandescent beauty, seen in various percentages of undress (including a climactic 100 percent), is a big reason “The Blue Room,” which opens officially on Dec. 13 (to March 7), is the hottest ticket for a nonmusical in Broadway history. And it was a big reason that the play was an instant sellout for its earlier run in London. Scalpers there weren’t getting $1,400 a ticket because drama fiends were desperate to see David Hare’s witty, cool, unblinking adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s 1900 play “La Ronde,” about sex in turn-of-the-century Vienna. In turn-of-another-century London and New York, playgoers were queueing up to see Kidman get her kit off, as the British put it.

At no extra charge with the best electronic cigarette, they were also going to see a gutsy and splendid performance by a stunning actress. Still, that’s not the reason that the stage door is now mobbed every night in New York, or that “The Blue Room” has become the must-see, must-chatter-about event of the season, or that celebrities on a scale from Tom Hanks to Regis Philbin are flocking to the previews. Hare was amazed by the nightly scene outside the theater, with cops clearing the overflow of Kidmaniacs from the street. Would “inquiring minds” be drawn to the live theater if the Australian Kidman were not married to our most popular movie star, who’s had to fight off the most vicious tabloid terrorists? Besides all that, both Kidman and husband Tom Cruise costar in the most eagerly awaited movie in years, Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut,” the “erotic” details of which have been a secret for the three years of its gestation.

It turns out we didn’t have to wait to have our eyes opened. In her breakout performance in “The Blue Room,” Kidman, 31, and her costar Iain Glen enact all of the play’s 10 characters. Hare’s play, mod- ernizing Schnitzler, presents a daisy chain of sex, with its 10 characters engaging in serial copulations across lines of social class and money. Kidman becomes a teenage hooker, a French au pair, a politician’s wife, a coked-up model, an imperious stage diva. Glen changes from a studly cabdriver to a callow student, a self-adoring playwright, a philandering politician and a thin-blooded aristocrat. Flinging their varied clothes off 10 times during 90 nonstop minutes, they couple in stage blackouts to the accompaniment of a nerve-jangling electric buzzer, followed by a sign giving the duration of their liaisons. These range from 0 minutes for the student’s premature flunk-out with the politician’s wife to a drug-fueled 2 hours 28 minutes for the politician and the model.

The biggest theatrical event of 1998, Nicole Kidman’s performance in “The Blue Room” at the Donmar Warehouse, was commemorated at the Evening Standard Drama Awards when Kidman was presented with a special award “for her significant contribution to the London theatre.” In her acceptance speech, which she read, Kidman said, “I love theatre and this city is the hub of it.”

Together with “Blue Room” co-star lain Glen, Kidman flew from New York to London for just 12 hours, creating a whirlwind of publicity for the awards show, presented Nov. 30 at London’s Savoy Hotel. The Evening Standard is now running a competition to fly readers by Concorde to New York to see the Broadway production of “The Blue Room.”

Kidman’ s presence deflected attention from the fact that Kevin Spacey (the legal highs), voted best actor for “The Iceman Cometh, wasn’t present (he’s filming in Ireland), and also that the best actress award went to the brilliant but lesser known Sinead Cusack for a play, the Royal Court production of “Our Lady of Sligo” that few people saw. Best play was Michael Frayn’s “Copenhagen,” one of four Royal National Theatre productions cited this year.

For the first time since the category was instigated in 1970, there was no award for best comedy. In its place were two new awards. The best stage designer was Richard Hoover, one of several Americans who worked on the National’s production of Tennessee Williams’ “Not About Nightingales.”

Theatrical Achievement of the Year, which will be given occasionally, went this year to the Almeida Theatre in Islington, north London, which attracts big stars for its classical and modern program. Best director Howard Davies won for the Almeida’s production of “The Iceman Cometh” and the National’s “Flight.”

Because of the dearth of worthy new musicals, a rule change allowed the National’s revival of “Oklahoma!” to win the award for best musical. Director Trevor Nunn accepted the award from James Hammerstein, son of the lyricist, who declared that the production was “the best revival of ‘Oklahoma!’ that ever was.” Mark Ravenhill was voted most promising playwright for his new play, “Handbag,” seen at the Lyric in Hammersmith, west London, and on tour.

Ravenhill authored “Shopping and Fucking,” a success in the West End, but not elsewhere. He created a frisson when he thanked his friends for helping to pull him back from the brink of death earlier this year.

Standard editor Max Hastings opened the ceremony by criticizing the Jerwood Foundation, which wanted its name appended to the Royal Court Theatre in exchange for a [pounds]3 million ($4.8 million) donation to its rebuilding fund. No less than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth intervened to prevent this treason. Hastings’ comments were greeted with cheers from the celebrity audience.

LeBlang said sales of Fonda’s merchandise seemed to be strong. But Robert Karem, executive vice president D.H. Holmes, said it was too early to determine the pace of sales of Fonda’s merchandise, which came into the store at the weekend.

Elliot Stone, president of Jordan Marsh in Boston, said Thursday afternoon that at that time Jane Fonda’s scheduled store appearance today was still on. “We have received 50 calls, but nothing that would cause us to change our plans,” Stone said.

Sales of Fonda’s merchandise have been “very good,” Stone said.

Marshall Field’s also reported Thursday afternoon it has not canceled Fonda’s appearance scheduled for Saturday, but it is reviewing the matter.

“Saks is the last store we thought would cancel her appearance,” said Ron Mester, president of Capri Beachwear, manufacturer of Jane Fonda Workouts.

“It is the same small group of vocal people, it may have been Vietnam veterans in this case, that continue to focus on the past. Bodywear isn’t politics though,” he said.

Although Fonda did appear unannounced at store locations where her personal appearances had been canceled, Mester said she would not follow suit at Saks.

Of the actress’s unannounced visits at Burdines and D.H. Holmes, Mester said, “She feels that this is a free country and that she has the right to speak when and where she wishes.”

Fonda stayed approximately 10 minutes at each store where she signed autographs and talked to a large crowd that gathered in her boutizues, Mester said{

“They were cheering her, and Howard Socol, the president of Burdines, invited Jane to come back,” he said.

Even with some of the negative controversy surrounding Fonda’s promotion of her bodywear collection, strong sales figures have prompted heavy reorders from some retailers after one week.

The Broadway, Los Angeles, which placed one of the largest orders initially, reordered 18,024 pieces for its 40 stores, according to Margo Dye, assistant buyer for bodywear. “The line is selling very, very well,” she said.

Some 400 people turned out to meet Fonda Monday when she appeared at the store’s downtown plaza location and another 500 people greeted her at the Century City store, Dye said.

Fonda was expected to be interviewed by Dianne Sawyer this morning on CBS’s morning news.

NEW YORK — Saks Fifth Avenue became the third department store this week to cancel an appearance by Jane Fonda following phone calls to the store protesting the actress’s politics. Fonda’s appearances were set up to promote her new workout line.

In announcing the cancellation Thursday morning, Melvin Jacobs, chairman of Saks, said the store “would not do anything that would be a risk or endangerment to our visitors and employees so it is in our best judgment that we cancel Miss Fonda’s personal appearance.” She was slated to appear at Saks Thursday evening.

Two other department stores, Burdines and Miami and D.H. Holmes in New Orleans, canceled appearances by the actress after receiving threatening phone calls, including one bomb threat to Burdines that closed the Dadeland Mall stores for an hour. No bomb was found.

Despite the cancellations, Fonda showed up at the 163rd Street Burdines unit in Miami on Tuesday and the Canal Street unit of D.H. Holmes on Wednesday. In both cases, Fonda came unannounced, and caught both stores by surprise.

Burdines said Fonda showed up at about 11:20 a.m. Tuesday with her publicist, steve Rivers, and two other people, to make a statement on her behalf, check out her merchandise, and thank those who spoke out against the cancellation.

According to Burdines, there was no trouble at the store when the actress appeared. A crowd of store personnel, customers, store security and press were present and she stayed about 10 minutes.

Fonda also showed up unexpectedly at D.H. Holmes at 10 a.m. Wednesday after contacting the press about her visit.

Saks received a “number” of calls this week protesting the actress, and some callers identified thsmselves as customers, according to Paul LeBlang, senior vice president, sales promotion.

LeBlang noted Saks placed two ads in the New York Times this week advertising Fonda’s appearance, and that the media was notified of the cancellation.

Asked what would happen if Fonda made a surprise visit to Saks, LeBlang replied, “People are always welcome to show up at our store.”