Most of us have seen the classic Breakfast at Tiffany's with the incredible Audrey Hepburn, or read Captoe's 1958 novella. The famous story of Holly Golightly, and her free spirit and many suitors. She is a fascinating woman of the 1940s living an undefined, refreshing, and non-traditional life. This review stems from a recent press preview of the now-showing Broadway play, and our critics were divided, but this opinion represents those of at least two of our writers if not a complete consensus.
Darling, have you seen the play Breakfast at Tiffany's at Cort Theatre? To be honest, it was a bit of a bore. The play is from "Fred's" perspective, and like most jejune writers he is pretentious and verbose in his descriptions. He encapsulates the pathetic bitter guy stuck in the "friend zone." He obsesses over Holly, even to the point of trying to sync his hours with hers and watching her through his window.
Sadly, while I loved both Fred and Holly in the movie, their charm was lost in the play. Yes, it is very hard to complete with Audrey Hepburn, but I found Emilia Clarke's portrayal of Holly to be of a slutty, bitchy, and hick mess; however, Emilia does have a lovely voice (Game of Thrones fans, she's solid but not as riveting as you might expect from her turn in the HBO show). Holly is a beautiful free spirit, with depth, smarts, and so much passion. She is a fun girl who, unlike many women of her time, is very independent and inspiring. Yes, she may not always have every part of her life planned out, but she is considering her future and having fun along the way. The play ran for about two hours, and yet I feel a lot of the depth of the movie was lost.
That all being said, the set was beautiful. I loved how they used projections to create a mood. My favorite character by far was Cat. It is pretty fun to see a live cat strut across the stage. He was so laid back and just kept looking up at the lights. Adorable.
The most interesting part of the play was the gratuitous display of Fred's penis. I am not really sure what the point of all that was, it was pretty funny when he turned and a woman a few rows over gasped: "Oh my!" I am not complaining, he is a good looking guy, but that part felt largely included for it's shock value.
Overall, darling, it is a fairly rote production and mildly amusing, pleasant way to spend the evening. Tickets are available now and run a fairly pricy $103 to $263.
