WHEN Denzel Washington got rapped by the critics in “Julius Caesar” last year, he withdrew from the Broadway playing field.

His handlers told him it was unlikely he would be nominated for a Tony, so there was no reason for him to get out and glad-hand theater people, schmooze Tony nominators and voters or endure bad food and dull speeches at benefits, all so that Broadway would think he was “part of our community.”

The few appearances he did make were strictly about selling tickets.

This week, Julia Roberts finds herself in Denzel Washington territory.

Her reviews for “Three Days of Rain” – which, I’m told, she is not reading – were poor; a few were humiliating.

Jacques le Sourd of Gannett Newspapers called her “an appalling stage actress.”

The Post’s Clive Barnes said he “hated” her.

So does this mean Roberts will turn her back on Broadway, licking her critically inflicted wounds while counting her sold-out houses?

There are two schools of thought, and where theater people fall depends on whether they think she’s got a shot at a Tony Award nomination – which, if she were to get one, would be the raw steak she can slap on her black eye.

Those who think she has a chance figure things this way:

There are five slots to fill in the Best Actress in a Play category, and this is not a strong year for leading actresses.

The only sure nominees are Cynthia Nixon (“Rabbit Hole”) and Judy Kaye (“Souvenir”).

Two other likely nominees are Zoe Wanamaker (“Awake and Sing!”) and Kate Burton, who starred in the long-forgotten “The Constant Wife” but who’s a beloved figure in the theater world.

The fifth slot is up for grabs, the contenders being Lisa Kron (“Well”), Frances Sternhagen (“Seascape”) and Roberts.

A couple of appearances at the right events, some chitchat with some of the nominators, and Roberts, who can be extremely charming in person, just might snag that slot.

“It is inconceivable that the nominators are going to ignore the biggest female star in the world,” says one theater insider. “You’re not going to put Julia Roberts on the Tonys? You’re going to put Franny Sternhagen on instead?”

On the other hand, the nominators did not bow down to Washington, demonstrating, as one press agent says, that “they aren’t always susceptible to star power.”

A tough-minded and savvy Broadway producer says there is no way Roberts is going to “chase a Tony nomination” because it would make her look “foolish.”

This person predicts she will float above it all, just as Washington did.

“She barely does any press for her movies. Why would she do anything for a play?”

In the next couple of weeks, Broadway will be in the grip of Tony fever.

If, while surfing

playbill.com, you find photos of Julia Roberts posing with Howard Sherman, head of the American Theater Wing, or Jed Bernstein, president of the League of American Theaters and Producers, then you’ll know she’s in pursuit of that fifth slot.

CORRECTION: Last week, I reported that John Lloyd Young, the star of “Jersey Boys,” seemed to be having vocal problems while performing at a benefit for New Dramatists.

In fact, as the bookwriter John Weidman pointed out to me, it was a benefit for the Dramatist Guild Fund.

Weidman should know, since he’s the president of the Dramatist Guild.

He adds: “I think it’s hard enough on actors to be reviewed when they’re opening in a show. I’m not sure they really need to be reviewed when they volunteer their time at benefits.”

He has a point, so I won’t say anything about Martin Short and Andrea Martin‘s recent appearance at the American Theater Wing benefit.

Boy, have they dodged a bullet.