I blame this on being out of the country and away from computers when the story was confirmed, but have you all heard about the stage production of Breakfast at Tiffany's now on in London? It previewed at the end of September and is now running at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until the end of January 2010. Interesting...Does anyone have any inclination to see it? It stars Anna Friel of the terminally cute television show Pushing Daisies as Holly Golightly, and while Anna is on record as saying she wouldn't attempt to mimic Audrey's iconic portrayal of the callgirl with a heart of gold, the adverts certainly give another impression. Don't blame the girl, though, as the few onstage shots I've managed to find show Anna as a curly blonde more reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe (Capote's original choice for Holly) than Audrey Hepburn. I'm afraid that I can't really show you any of the pictures I've found because I try to keep this as family friendly as possible, and, well . . . Anna appears completely nude onstage. Yes, starkers.
The play is based off of Truman Capote's original novella and not the sweetened screenplay that George Axelrod adapted to film, and is set in 1943 as opposed to the then-current time of 1961 for the film. There is also a language warning on both the theatre's website and the production's official website, more in keeping with Capote's sometimes blue writing. If you are interested in catching the show tickets are still available and can be found on the theatre's website (link above), and seem to range from around £17 to £50. If you do go see, please share your thoughts with those of us who can't make it! We'd love to hear from you.
While doing some research on this I found that this actually wasn't the first time Breakfast had been put onstage. There had been rumors in the late 90s and early 2000s that someone somewhere was going to do an adaptation and Natalie Portman had been asked to take on Holly, but thanks to Google and an unauthorized biography you can now read more about one of the most notorious Broadway flops in history, Breakfast at Tiffany's the Musical. Can you imagine Mary Tyler Moore as a singing and dancing Holly? Or Richard Chamberlain as the sensitive, bookish Paul Varjak? A cast recording was made shortly before the play closed and is still available on CD, surprisingly enough. Don't waste your time on Amazon where third party sellers will try to gouge you at $50 or more. Barnes & Noble's website has the album selling at $26.39 with listening samples! I won't influence your minds, so if you're curious, go listen to the samples for yourself . . . and leave comments, of course. I love hearing your thoughts on anything, especially the more bizarre findings. :)
