Breakfast at Tiffany's
It takes a brave woman to portray the character of Holly
Golightly on stage after Audrey Hepburn's spotless performance in the film
version of Breakfast at Tiffany's.
Emilia Clarke of HBO's Game of Thrones
was just the woman for the job in this new stage adaptation of Truman Capote's
classic novel. Starring in the play alongside Clarke as Holly Golightly is Cory
Michael Smith (Cock, The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World) as
Fred, and Cheers star George Wendt as
bartender Joe Bell.
If you haven't read the book or seen the movie, allow me to
give you a brief synopsis: Breakfast at Tiffany's
is the story of a country girl-turned-New York City café society woman. The
story begins when Fred, a young writer and the narrator of the story, meets
Holly Golightly in their brownstone apartment building. Everyone seems to fall
in love with Holly, including poor Fred. Holly has no job though, and provides
for herself by socializing with wealthy men who give her money for the powder
room and cabs. One of these men is the future president of Brazil, Jose
Yberra-Jaegar, whom she tries to marry. Another man, Sally Tomato, provides for
Holly in exchange for her weekly "weather report," which she gives to
him in Sing Sing prison. Even her husband, Doc, whom she married as a teenager,
eventually returns to her life.
In October of 2002, the intention to bring Breakfast at Tiffany's to Broadway with
an adaptation by Tony Award winner Richard Greenberg (Take Me Out) was first announced. While Capote's 1958 novel and the
1961 film adaptation starring Audrey Hepburn were both extremely successful,
the story of Breakfast at Tiffany’s
has not always been such a hit. In 1966, the story was turned into a musical
starring Mary Tyler Moore only to fail after a mere four Broadway previews. [It
never officially opened.] Three years later, ABC attempted a TV pilot, which
was never picked up. In 2009, the story was once again unsuccessfully turned
into a West End play. This time, however, director Sean Mathias is determined
to make the Broadway play a success.
Unlike the film adaptation, Greenberg's script is based on
Capote's novel, which is quite different from the movie. “It’s not the movie,
it’s not Audrey Hepburn, but it is Capote’s words and Capote’s beautiful
characters,” said Clarke in a recentEW interview. The play stays true to Capote's novel, which takes place
during the war in the 1940s. It is no longer the simple romantic comedy in
which a man rescues a woman.
While the return to the characters and narrative of Capote's
book is refreshing after the beloved movie, there was one major disappointment.
The famous scene from the movie where Holly sits on her fire escape singing the
Oscar-winning song “Moon River” did not make the cut in its entirety in this
adaptation. The scene itself remained intact, with Clarke sitting on a fire
escape, yet it lacks “Moon River.” Instead, Clarke sings a different, quite
forgettable, song that leaves us missing the beautiful Audrey Hepburn. Whether
it was intentional to set both Clarke and the play apart from the movie, or
simply a legal issue in obtaining the rights to the song, this was the largest
and possibly only let down of the evening, unless of course you have an issue
with seeing either Emilia Clarke or Cory Michael Smith nude in a bathtub.
The play, similarly to the novel, is extremely deep and
dark. Emilia Clarke portrays Holly Golightly not simply as a fun-loving
adorable girl but as a woman who has several pained layers resulting from being
abandoned as a child, a teenage bride, her involvement with gangsters and finding
herself pregnant and unwed. On stage, Clarke transforms into the scared and
lonely Holly Golightly, who refuses to be owned by anyone, just as she projects
onto Cat, but is at the same time fearful of being alone. Breakfast at Tiffany's is truly a tragic story, with an ending that
feels realistic and entirely possible for either the 1940s or today.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s is
playing at the Cort Theatre. Visit breakfastattiffanysonbroadway.com for more
information and to purchase tickets.
Comments
Post a Comment