And I said, 'What about breakfast at Tiffany's'?

She said, 'I think I remember the film.'"

"Breakfast At Tiffany's"

Deep Blue Something

As in the lyrics of the pop group's 1965 hit song, most people remember "Breakfast At Tiffany's," the 1961 film starring Audrey Hepburn.

Many might not remember how much the film differs from Truman Capote's 1958 novella about Holly Golightly, an ingénue on the loose in New York City.

What most do remember is director Blake Edwards' opening scene where Holly hops out of a Ford taxi on one of those concrete and steel cold canyon-lit deserted Manhattan mornings. Still in her black Givenchy gown, silk gloves and owl-like dark sunglasses, Holly (Hepburn) clutches a Danish and a coffee as she looks longingly at the jewels in the windows of Tiffany & Co., the iconic Fifth Avenue store.

William Sanders, Civic Artistic Director who's directing the regional premiere of Richard Greenberg's stage adaptation of Capote's book at Civic Theatre of Allentown, May 1 - 16, has seen the movie many times. He's also seen the Broadway play. And he's read the novella numerous times.

Civic's production of "Breakfast At Tiffany's" is the only time the play will be produced anywhere this year, according to Civic officials.

"We've already had people say, 'I can't wait to see it on the big screen,'" Sanders recalls of reactions to hearing that Civic is presenting "Breakfast At Tiffany's."

Sanders reminds them, "It's not on the big screen."

Not only is "Breakfast At Tiffany's" not on the big screen at Civic, Sanders is not recreating the film version.

Sanders, who saw the play on Broadway during its brief February - April 2013 run, lists the differences between the film and the novel, on which the stage version is based (a 1966 musical with book by Edward Albee and score by Bob Merrill never opened).

In Capote's novella, Holly is a blonde. In the film, Hepburn is a brunette.

In the book, the setting is New York City in 1943 during World War II.

In the movie, the setting is New York City in 1960.

In the book, there's no overt romance between Holly and Fred, the writer.

In the film, romance blooms between Holly and the novelist, renamed Paul (George Peppard).

There are other differences, but you get the idea. Oh, and that scene in the film where Holly sings "Moon River"? Also not in the book nor the play.

Not unlike the film, "Moon River," composed by Henry Mancini with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, took on a life of its own. Hepburn's version received an original song Oscar, 1962 record and song of the year Grammys and became Andy Williams' theme song.

"I am a big fan of the film and I recall reading the novel and enjoying it but having a completely different experience," says Sanders.

"I loved the movie. I saw it at the Regency, a [New York City] revival house in the 1970s. And then I read the novel. And some of the dialogue is the same. That doesn't diminish the movie.

"When one thinks of Holly Golightly, one thinks of Audrey Hepburn. It is quite difficult to read the novella and not think of the indelible stamp she put on that character," Sanders continues.

"The woman who Capote created, however, was very different. After seeing the play in New York, I became very interested in telling this story the way Capote originally envisioned it and as he originally intended."

Civic is producing "Breakfast At Tiffany's" by special arrangement with Greenberg and the Capote Estate.

Sanders spoke with Greenberg's agent. The production had to be approved by the Capote Estate. "I have no idea why they said, 'Yes.' I'm thrilled that they did," Sanders says.

According to biographers, Capote disliked Hepburn in the part of Holly Golightly in the movie. He wanted Marilyn Monroe for the Hollywood adaptation. Capote thought the elegant Hepburn was miscast as Holly.

Capote saw Holly as a Texas runaway who reinvents herself as a Manhattan "It Girl." The Holly of Capote's imagination was a blonde party girl who had a challenging childhood, much like Monroe did growing up as Norma Jeane Baker.

In the play, it's 1943 during World War II on the Upper East Side of New York. Fred, a subdued young writer from the South, meets the vivacious, wild and popular (and blonde) Holly Golightly, and is quickly and quietly fascinated by her charms.

Explains Sanders, ""Breakfast at Tiffany's' is about friendships that may be a blip in a lifetime but that are utterly unshakeable.

"I think we all have those people in our lives who we know for a year, maybe two or three years. And they're gone, but they haunt you. It's not a sexual thing. It's not a romantic thing," Sanders says.

"The stage adaptation by Richard Greenberg is full of shadows and terrors, and is truer to the spirit of Truman's novella," says Sanders.

"The movie also glossed over the genuinely heartrending air of Capote's story: An aimless bachelorette who uses sugar daddies as her income and a crutch to avoid the pain of her past.

"It added a happy ending and romance with a writer, a kept man who ditches his sugar mamma when he falls in love with Holly. This [the stage version] feels more authentic and it also is a valentine to free-spirited women rather than a cautionary tale about a little girl lost in the big city."

The cast features Kendal Conrad as Holly Golightly. Conrad is a brunette. She wears a blonde wig for the role.

"He [Capote] describes her as a blonde, which is the first major difference. It's not a dark look. It's fresh-faced," says Sanders.

Will Morris is Fred, Capote's stand-in.

The Civic cast of "Breakfast At Tiffany's" includes Jerry Schmidt, John Kuchar, Kelly Suarez, Goran Zdravkovic and Dan Becker (puppeteer).

Sanders promises multiple roles, some twists and several surprises.

Spoiler alert: In the Civic production, there won't be a real cat as in the movie. Hence, the puppeteer.

"The whole thing is very theatrical. We wanted to make it as non-movie as possible," Sanders says.

The Civic production, true to the novella, is set in the 1940s with costuming inspired from the era by Costume Designer Nina Reilly. Wig and Hair Design is by Kim Danish.

Set Design is by Marilyn Loose.

"It is a unit set. We took our jumping-off point of her apartment, which was described as being filled with crates and suitcases and very little furniture."

Sound Design is by Helena Confer.

"There's an extensive soundtrack that Helena [Confer] has created. We use a lot of Big Band music. In the book, it's described that she loved Cole Porter and she knew 'Oklahoma!' [the musical] by heart."

For the Civic production, Jason Sizemore is Property Master. Gretchen Furst is Associate Director. Emily Heller is Production Stage Manager. Jarrod Yuskauskas is Dialect Coach.

"There are so many people who say, 'I love that movie,'" says Sanders of "Breakfast At Tiffany's." "What people really love about the movie is Audrey Hepburn.

"The 2013 stage production felt a lot like the two characters in the novel. I read it again. This author, who's relating the story to us, certainly needs to be more prominent.

"In the book he's, as they say in the 40s, confused. He doesn't know what to do with his sexuality.

"I think what they wanted is a romantic comedy," Sanders says of the film version. "And it's not a romantic comedy. It's a lot darker and more interesting."

Tickets: Civic Theatre Box Office, 527 N. 19th St., Allentown; CivicTheatre. com, 610-432-8943