Pink Triangle: The Feuds and Private Lives of Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, and Famous Members of Their Entourages (Blood Moon's Babylon Series) (86 page)

In London, Truman dined with Messel and his Danish companion, Vagn Riis-Hansen. In the aftermath, he wrote Cecil Beaton, fully aware that Beaton and Messel were bitter rivals.

“Darling Cecil, I dined with Oliver and his dear friend, a Dane. They were thrilled—absolutely thrilled—to be given 10,000 pounds to do Liz’s clothes for
Cleopatra.”

[At the time, in 1963, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were in Rome, filming the horrifically expensive
Cleopatra
. Later, in Rome, the epic film’s director, Joseph Mankiewicz, fired Messel from any further association with
Cleopatra’s
costumes and set designs.]

When he later met with Beaton in New York, Truman claimed that because of Messel’s new links, through his nephew, to Buckingham Palace, and because of Truman’s friendship with him, “I expect the gates of Buckingham Palace will be open to me as well. So far, the queen—perhaps the poor dear has forgotten—hasn’t invited me for tea. But it’s only a matter of time. I’m sure she admires my work.”

“Through Oliver, I was invited to this swanky party in Mayfair,” Truman continued. “I met Prince Philip, who practically drooled over me. That man, I’m sure, has the hots for me. If he ever gets me alone, I know—
I just know
—that he’ll rape me, and I will be forced to give in to his demands. The word around London is that Philip is extremely well hung. I can’t wait to be deflowered, like one of my gals in
House of Flowers.”

In Manhattan, in 1954,
House of Flowers
was ready to go into production. Saint
[its producer]
and Truman huddled together to select its creative team and to cast it. Once again, Truman wanted Peter Brook, the English
Wünderkind
, to direct.
[Previously, he’d wanted him to direct
The Grass Harp
, but didn’t get him.]

As Saint and Truman were soon to discover, whereas Brook vividly understood how to direct virtually any play by Shakespeare, he was utterly lost in his attempts to direct a musical, especially one with an all-black cast. In England, he’d successfully directed such plays as
Romeo and Juliet
and
Love’s Labour’s Lost
. He had also directed productions at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, including the staging of Strauss’s
Salome
with sets by Salvador Dalí. He’d also staged Puccini’s
La Bohème
using sets created in 1899.

[In time, Brook would become famous for staging the controversial and very avant-garde work of the Franco-Greek playwright and laudanum addict, Antonin Artaud and his Theater of Cruelty. A prime example included the Lon don premiere of Artaud’s
The Spurt of Blood.

Before coming to Broadway, Brook had directed John Gielgud in both
The Winter’s Tale
and
Measure for Measure
. None of this prepared him for what he’d encounter on Broadway, including Truman Capote, whose voice and effeminate mannerisms struck him as “peculiar.”]

Oliver Messel, the world’s most acclaimed theatrical designer, agreed to design both the sets and costumes. Harold Arlen had already signed to write the play’s musical score. As the crowning gem of
House of Flowers’
A-list associates, the great George Balanchine eventually signed on to choreograph the play’s dance numbers.

Both Brook and Truman agreed that Pearl Bailey should play the lead, Madame Fleur, who ran the play’s namesake bordello..

[Bailey had made her Broadway debut in 1946 in
St. Louis Woman
. In 1968, Bailey would win a Tony Award for her starring role in an all-black production of
Hello, Dolly!
A staunch Republican, she would be appointed in 1970 as “America’s Ambassador of Love” by President Richard Nixon.]

Before casting even began, Truman was a bit taken back by Brook, who seemed apprehensive. “I am not familiar with people of the Negro race. Do they require any special handling?”

Both Brook and Truman were surprised, even shocked, when Marlene Dietrich constantly showed up backstage, practically serving as Bailey’s wardrobe mistress during the short run of the play.

As Marlene Dietrich’s biographer, Steven Bach, wrote: “Marlene found time to make a few recordings of songs by Harold Arlen, on whom she doted and who doted back. She served as den mother and charlady for the cast of
House of Flowers
when it was in trouble out of town, advising Pearl Bailey to wear on stage jewelry of big rhinestones, not small diamonds. She rushed to Arlen’s bedside when he was hospitalized in New York, persuading the police department that her missions of mercy to the man who wrote ‘Stormy Weather’ required an escort complete with screaming sirens.”

Truman was at least mildly surprised when he walked into Bailey’s dressing room and discovered Marlene and Bailey in a passionate lip-lock. He excused himself for intruding and departed. Later, he told Saint that “if Tallulah Bankhead can seduce Hattie Mc-Daniel, then Marlene is entitled to Pearl.”

Brook, Truman, and Saint rounded up the best black performers in New York, mainly dancers. These included Alvin Ailey; Carmen Da Lavallade and her husband, Geoffrey Holder; and Arthur Mitchell. Juanita Hall, who had leaped to fame as Bloody Mary in the Broadway version of
South Pacific
, was selected to play the pugnacious madam of a rival bordello. The beautiful Diahann Carroll was cast in the role of the play’s love interest, Ottilie.

The Trinidad-born painter and dancer, Geoffrey Holder remembered meeting Truman at the time of the cast’s first script reading. “He carried a large bouquet of red roses. Hopping, skipping, jumping around the theater, he gave each of us a rose. ‘Pearl, a rose for you,
Dahhanne [Diahann Carroll]
, honey, a rose for you.’ It was all so sweet—like a little elf.”

Immediately, the show ran into trouble. Balanchine was not familiar with Caribbean dance traditions. “It took him hours until we finally figured out that he wanted us to do the God damn mambo,” Alvin said. “Why didn’t he say so in the first place?”

Brook kept addressing the cast as “You People,” which they resented. He constantly and loudly reaffirmed that, “I am not prejudiced against African Americans,” which elicited a collective groan from the cast.

Herbert Ross replaced Balanchine when he bolted. Ross would go on to greater successes on Broadway, including involvements in both
Funny Lady
with Barbra Streisand, and in
Tovarich
with Vivien Leigh.

He would become more famous in 1988 when he married Lee Radziwill, sister of Jackie Kennedy. Radziwill, for a time, would become Truman’s closest friend.

After
House of Flowers’
first tryout in Philadelphia
[November 24, 1954]
, Brook assembled the all-black cast for a meeting:

“Before leaving London, I was told that all you blacks were a lazy, shiftless lot, and that I’d have massive trouble working with you. After watching your performance last night, I think all of you should be sent back to Barbados or Africa, or wherever it is you came from.”