It's always nice to have the author whose work a particular play or musical is based on stop by for opening night. But the producers of Broadway's new "Breakfast at Tiffany's" adaptation had a bit of a problem making that happen: writer Truman Capote, whose 1958 novella was the play's inspiration, has been dead since 1984.
That little detail did not stop them, however, from trying.
According to the New York Post, representatives from the play sought out Capote's ashes (owned by late talk show host Johnny Carson's ex Joanne Carson, in whose home Capote died), in the hopes of having them fly cross-country from Bel Air, Calif., to New York for the show's opening night after party. (They would have flown first-class, of course.)
"We did try to get him here," a "Breakfast" rep confirmed to the paper. "Joanne says he always wanted to (see) Holly Golightly open on Broadway, and we thought it would have been poignant for the entire company."
Alas, the fear was that the ashes would not make it back home safely: Over the years they've been reported stolen multiple times, and in any case they would have only have been "half" of Capote, since the other half of his ashes were scattered along with his late partner's, author Jack Dunphy in 1992.
"I think ultimately the risk of theft was just too high," added the "Breakfast" rep to the paper, "but he was certainly there in spirit."
As the Post noted, Carson has said that Capote's ashes "were my sanity for ... years. Truman often referred to me as his very own Holly Golightly come to life. He always told me you could be anything you wanted, but whatever happens, never be boring."
In life, as in death, that seems to be true for Capote.