It’s hard to say which is more dramatic–Morse’s portrait of the gifted, gay, outrageous, pathetic Capote (who died of an alcohol and drug-ravaged liver in 1984) or Morse’s comeback after a 13-year absence from Broadway. The star of such musical hits is the 1961 “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” Morse vanished from Broadway in the mid-’70s. Like Capote,he had a drinking problem although, again like Capote, he didn’t drink while he was working.“I drank after the theater,” he says, “and I found I was allergic to alcohol–I broke out in drunks. I knew I had to go out and get some help, and I am a recovering alcoholic today.”
But for more than a decade, Morse was in showbiz limbo. He had three kids in private schools, so he went to work in dinner theaters around the country. “I played in a hotel theater in Miami Beach, a converted A&P in Ohio, I did “where’s Charley?’ at the Opera Theater of St Louis.” “Clean and sober,” Morse made the rounds of the “other theater” in America for five years, then went to Hollywood. Moving to the hopefully named Magic Hotel, he got an agent who told him:
“You will not be out of work a single day.” But, says Morse, “No one hired me. I did voices on cartoons, I did some theater, I got unemployment insurance.”
When Allen came to him with her play, says Morse, “it was a dream come true.” But in rehearsals, “I had a lot of trouble with the play. I’d get broken up with emotion when Tru had to talk about his alcoholism. I had to work hard to avoid any self-pity. Now I can deal with it.“Capote’s friend Joanne Carson told Morse that Tru had seen “How to Succeed” 10 times. “When I sang “I Believe in You,’ Tru yelled, “That’s my spirit up there!’ He sang and danced around his apartment and fell flat on his face.” Morse demonstrates, prancing with the impish elegance of Tru. He does not fall.
