Mary Tyler Moore, who died on Wednesday at age 80, has been mourned as one of the most beloved actors of her time, celebrated particularly for her long runs on TV’s “Dick Van Dyke Show” and “Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Obituaries have cited her various awards and nominations, including one for an Oscar in 1980 for “Ordinary People.” But less noted has been the fact that her work in theater—which she took on with very little training, and which culminated in a special 1980 Tony for her performance as a paraplegic in “Whose Life Is It Anyway?”—included a high-profile and character-testing disaster early in her career.That Tony went a long way toward wiping away the bitter memories of Moore’s involvement in one of Broadway’s most legendary flops: the musical version of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” In 1966, just after concluding her run in “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and before tackling a new series, she was attracted by the prospect of playing Holly Golightly, Truman Capote’s iconic sophisticate of dubious reputation—“a hooker who was a virgin,” according to Edward Albee. The 1958 novella had been turned into a movie hit in 1961 and five years later, flamboyant producer David Merrick eyed the property as ripe for musicalization. He hired Bob Merrill (of “Funny Girl” fame) to write the songs and veteran Abe Burrows (“Guys and Dolls”) to adapt and direct the lavish show. When it came to filling in the role that had been so ravishingly captured on film by Audrey Hepburn, all eyes turned to Moore. Seeing the role as an opportunity not only to flex her acting chops but also to escape her cheery, wholesome TV persona, the actress jumped at the chance to dive into the dark romantic comedy opposite Richard Chamberlain in the role created by George Peppard. There was trouble from the start. The tryouts in Philadelphia and Boston were rocky, prompting Merrick to call on Edward Albee—of all people—to do a rewrite of the show before its move to New York. Burrows quit the project, director Joseph Anthony was brought in, and Moore felt that she was going to be fired at any moment. Albee’s panacea for what ailed “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”—then called “Holly Golightly”—was to return the story to the dark, unflinching realm of the original source material. He eliminated all the dancing chorus boys and girls and re-instated songs that had been cut. As a result, Albee admitted to writer Terrence McNally, he turned a show that might have “limped along for six months” on Broadway into “an instant disaster.”Merrick brought the highly-anticipated “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” to New York, but for only four preview performances. He chose to close it before it ever opened, issuing what became one the theater’s most famous press releases: “Rather than subject the drama critics and the theater-going public—who invested one million dollars in advance sales—to an excruciatingly boring evening, I have decided to close.” Moore, ever the trouper throughout the painful experience in New York, managed to sing her songs through a debilitating bout of bronchial pneumonia. She would regain her love of theater 14 years later by triumphing in “Whose Life Is It Anyway?” and then having a successful run on Broadway in A.R. Gurney’s “Sweet Sue” in 1987. She was also nominated for several Tony Awards as a producer of such prestigious fare as “Noises Off,” “Benefactors,” “Safe Sex” and “Joe Egg,” which won the 1985 Tony for Best Revival.In her last years, Moore returned to Shubert Alley, co-founding with Bernadette Peters the theatrical organization Broadway Barks, which raises funds for animal shelters and pet adoption agencies. Moore said at one of their events that the bond between her and animals had started early. “My mother and father brought home a black cocker spaniel that would sleep under my crib,” she recalled, “and when I cried, she’d howl. And that’s what began my close union with animals.”
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