INTERVIEW: Total MK speaks with Georgia May Foote, star of Breakfast at Tiffany's...

Think of glamorous Hollywood movies from the smoky past, and you don't have to think too hard before Breakfast at Tiffany's shines in the mind, writes Sammy Jones.

Based on Truman Capote's classic novella, the story of Holly Golightly was released to the big screen in 1961 with Audrey Hepburn in the title role.

It was an instant hit, and is now in the higher realms of movies marked 'iconic'.

It's 'the one' with Moon River among the music too.

On Monday (September 19) it makes its glittering debut in Milton Keynes, but this version steers away from the blockbusting big screen affair, and instead leans towards the book.

The shoes might be dainty, but the role?   It's a big part to step into, as Georgia May Foote knows better than anyone.

The lady who made her name walking the cobbles of Coronation Street (as Katy Armstrong) is making her stage debut in the work.

Milton Keynes is the first stop on the tour, so we'll get her very first stage performance.

"When I got the call, I knew that it was an amazing part, and such a big role.   It was a challenge..." she knew straight away.

Bur Georgia is used to stepping up to the mark, and spent last year wowing us as part of the Saturday night staple Strictly Come Dancing, where she finished in second place.

"It was the first thing I got offered after the Strictly tour," she tells me, "I thought 'If I can go into an arena and dance in front of that many people, then I can go on stage and act!

"Television is so different, with Corrie, you film an episode, put it out there and then it's forgotten, but stage reviews and things like that are completely new to me, so it will be different, but it's all a learning curve..."

Georgia has even been learning the guitar for the role!

"I've been trying," she says, "It's been difficult to do it..."

But she'll not be playing live when the tour starts.

"I might get halfway through the tour and think 'I can do this now,' " she told me, but is taking 'one thing at a time,' and there are quite a few other things to deal with.   Like a mammoth script.

"When it arrived, there was 90 pages of dialogue...but thankfully I am quite good at learning lines!

"There are 23 costume changes too..."

Wait, 23?!

"23," she echoes, "It's exciting though.  I like being busy and it'll be great to learn that discipline of quick changing because television is quite slow like that.   I'll come away with a new skill"!"

And what about tackling that New York accent?

"I like accents...my mum would probably say I'm a bit annoying with them actually.   I had a great coach too, Rick Lipton, who set me into the period of the era."

 

Set in New York in 1943, Fred, a young writer from Louisiana meets Holly Golightly, a charming, vivacious, and utterly elusive good-time girl.   Everyone falls in love with Holly - including Fred.

But Fred is poor, and Holly's other suitors include a playboy millionaire and the future president of Brazil.

As war rages on in Europe, Holly begins to fall in love with Fred - just as her past catches up with her....

Georgia, whose CV also includes roles in Grange Hill and Emmerdale, is embracing this new stage work.

Even before the curtain rises on Holly, she has signed up for stage show number two, and while it too has a musical thread, the Rocky Horror Show couldn't be further away from Breakfast at Tiffany's.

In Richard O'Brien's cult success, Georgia is starring as groupie Columbia, a role that has previously been filled by Joan Jett.

"Holly is one sort of character and Columbia is absolutely crazy!   I'm doing a play and then a musical to get them both out the way," she laughs.

And she has recorded her return to the small screen too...
"This year has been quite mad, so I had a bit of a relax and went on holiday.

"Then, when I got back, I thought 'I need a job,' so I've just filmed a comedy," she divulges.

"I'd hate to just be bored at home, and am so lucky that I've got work.   I thank the universe for that every day..." 

The comedy will air in November, by which time Georgia will be used to the nightly stage visits, and she advises you join her.

"Come and check the play out," she encourages, "(playwright) Richard Greenberg has done a fabulous job and it has a different ending too.

"Put the film in the back of your mind, because this play is darker and more emotive...it's a beautiful story and has a journey to it."

 

To book tickets visit  www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes