The show had been scheduled to open on Broadway on November 28, 1966. After playing tryout runs in Philadelphia and Boston, the production went back into rehearsal, and performances were canceled. Broadway previews finally started on December 12, but the production did not officially open. Producer David Merrick stated that he thought it would be better to close rather "than subject the drama critics and the public to an excruciatingly boring evening."
RCA was planning to record and release a cast recording, but when the show closed they canceled it. It would be 30 more years before a recording was made.
During the massive overhauling between Boston and New York, the character of Jose Ybarra was renamed Carlos, and Larry Kert replaced Mitchell Gregg in the role.
Some online sources say that the Edward Albee book played in Boston. This is incorrect. The first performance of Albee's version was the first Broadway preview.
Some online sources say that the show was four hours long in early performances, but this would seem to be incorrect as no contemporary source seems to have said this, and surely it would have been mentioned.
Opening night for the tryout run in Philadelphia had been scheduled for Monday, October 10, 1966 (after perhaps a preview or two), but a day or two before October 10, opening night was postponed till Saturday, October 15, with previews continuing till then. At this time, the show was known as Holly Golightly.
The tryout run in Boston was originally to have been November 1 through 19, 1966, but in late October an extension of a week was announced.
On the third day of Broadway previews, which was a Wednesday, it was announced that the show would not open, and that the last performance would be that evening. There was also a matinee scheduled for that day. There is some reason to believe that the matinee was canceled.
While most press reports following the final performance said that the production had played four previews, several said that it had played three previews, The gross listed in Variety for the week suggests a strong possibility that the production did, in fact, play only three previews.
Later sources tend to say that the production played four previews on Broadway before shutting down, we think that they may not be correct.
