People: Dec. 23, 1966

All through the seven weeks in Philadelphia and Boston, they labored to whip Breakfast at Tiffany's into something palatable, but the talents of Playwrights Nunnally Johnson, Abe Burrows and Edward Albee couldn't save the musical. After the fourth dismal preview in Manhattan, Producer David Merrick, 54, flashed a sort of risus sardonicus and announced: "Rather than subject the drama critics and the theatergoing public to an excruciatingly boring evening, I have decided to close the show. It's my Bay of Pigs." And this particular sow's ear will cost Merrick $400,000.

Anyone else who...

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