Adapted for the stage by Richard Greenberg (Tony Award winner for Take Me Out), Truman Capote’s “BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S” hits the Haymarket Theatre West End, with pint-sized pop princess Pixie Lott, reprising Audrey Hepburn’s classic 1961 film portrayal of the effortlessly chic, yet endearingly vulnerable Holly Golightly.Ms Lott’s incarnation of Holly draws deeply on the original source material, most notably the troubled background story of Lillie May – Capote’s real-life mother - who bore him at 16 and died from a sleeping pills overdose 30 years later. She exhibits an iron-willed determination to view the world through rose-tinted sunglasses, but the audience is never left in any doubt of her inner fragility. Self-consciously coquettish, she displays more sass than sophistication, which renders her less loveable in her dealings with the men who provide her with “tips” and “expensive gifts” than Hepburn’s on-screen portrayal, but this is perhaps an unfair comparison.
Lott’s husky dialogue delivery occasionally grates, yet her rendering of Mancini and Mercer’s “Moon River” (whilst out of keeping with the 1940s/50s musical style) is utterly transporting in the louche setting of the skeletal fire escarpment of her shared tenement building.
On stage Ms Lott’s Holly has a motley assortment of moths in her orbit: men of questionable character and unclear intent and those simply too shy to act on their adoration. “Fred” (Matt Barber - channelling elements of Capote’s own fey and fidgety demeanour, whose confused sexuality is drawn-out by the more worldly-wise Ms Golightly) acts as our narrator through whose eyes are documented Holly’s escapades. Sevan Stephen, Melanie La Barrie, Robert Calvert and Naomi Cranston provide the more notable cameos, whilst Charlie de Melo is the dashing Brazilian love-interest.
It has to be noted however that the most effective upstaging of the night was achieved by Bob-the-cat, Holly’s feline companion known simply as “Cat”.
Matthew Wright has designed a busy set commensurate with the number of quick scene changes in Nikolai Foster’s efficiently directed, yet emotionally unmoving production.
Set in the picturesque surroundings of Regent's Park, the open-air theatre is a spectacle in itself, and even as you take your seat it is clear that this version of Jesus Christ Superstar is going to be very different from the arena version a few years back. Based on the most famous stories from the Bible: the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, this Jesus Christ Superstar has been catapulted into the 21st century. From the stark concrete set to the Kanye West-esque costume, visually it would not have been out of place on the streets of London in 2016.