This week’s theater news is brought to you by the letter “B”—for Bare, The Bodyguard, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s!
RETURN TO MOON RIVER
Holly Golightly will enjoy her early-morning doughnut and coffee on Broadway this upcoming February in a stage retelling of Truman Capote’s classic novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Written by Tony-winner Richard Greenberg (Take Me Out), the new adaptation will star Emilia Clarke (TV’s Game of Thrones) as the iconic young Holly.
Audiences hoping for the spirit of the delightful 1961 movie may get a jolt: “The goal of this version is to return to the original setting of the novella, which is the New York of the Second World War,” says Greenberg, “as well as to resume its tone—still stylish and romantic, yes, but rougher-edged and more candid than people generally remember.”
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The literary Golightly, rumored to be based on Capote’s friendship with a young Marilyn Monroe, is indeed grittier than the little lamb Audrey Hepburn played in the film. (She even used racial slurs—quelle rat!)
This won’t be Holly’s first Broadway foray, though: a disastrous musical version of Breakfast at Tiffany’s arrived on the Great White Way in 1966, starring Richard Chamberlain and Mary Tyler Moore as Holly. With a bizarre meta-book by Edward Albee, its tone was shockingly smutty and mean-spirited—and, despite a jazzy ’60s score by Funny Girl composer Bob Merrill, audiences hated it. It closed after four previews, never making it to opening night.
BARE ESSENTIAL
In honor of National Coming Out Day, the cast of the upcoming off-Broadway musical Bare is holding a special event tonight at the Snapple Theater Center . The show’s producers have partnered with Athlete Ally, HRC, Faith in America, and the Tyler Clementi Foundation to present speakers like former NHL star Sean Avery, activist Fiona Dawson and James Clementi, as well as Bare director Stafford Arima and choreographer Travis Wall. Attendees will also enjoy a sneak-peek performance from the show. “We invite all supporters of equality to join us on October 11 to learn more about our partners, our musical, and how we can all work together to ensure that everyone is free to be themselves,” said Bare producer Paul Boskind.
Having amassed a loyal cult following over the last decade, Bare tells the story of two teenage boys who fall in love at a co-ed Catholic boarding school. Performances begin in November. [Playbill]
SO EMOTIONAL
Next month, a jukebox-musical version of The Bodyguard opens in London. Though we’re getting tired of the West End’s obsession with turning movies from the ’80s and ’90s into musicals (Dirty Dancing, Ghost, etc.), this one has us sitting up at attention.
That’s mainly because it stars the incomparable Heather Headley as endangered Rachel Marron, who was famously played by Whitney Houston in the 1992 movie version.
Some queens may think it’s sacrilege to try and fill Houston’s shoes, but Headley is precisely the singer to do it: After originating the role of Nala in The Lion King and winning a Tony Award for Best Actress in Aida, Headley left the stage and became a Grammy-winning singer. For her ardent fans, The Bodyguard is a dream vehicle for Headley’s return to the stage. The word from rehearsals says that she’s giving a powerhouse performance singing classics like “Run to You,” “Saving All My Love,” and, yes, even “I Will Always Love You.”
Should the show come to New York, it’s incomprehensible that Headley wouldn’t come with it. I already predict she’ll nab her second Tony. [Daily Mail]
Photo: heatherheadley.com
