New York  - Little Miss Sunshine star Abigail Breslin is to play disabled advocate Helen Keller in her Broadway debut, it was announced Thursday.

Breslin, 13, will play the blind and deaf trailblazer Keller in a revival of the 1959 hit play The Miracle Worker, which opens in March.

"I am so honoured," said the Oscar-nominated teenager. "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." (dpa)