✭Matinée Wednesday: Round Twenty-Four…
The story of Looped is a sad one. After just 27 previews and 25 regular performances, the producers decided to close the show due to poor ticket sales. Valerie Harper, AKA Rhoda from “The Mary Tyler More Show,” starred as the original Hollywood bad girl, Tallulah Bankhead, in this very witty comedy. Unfortunately, not many contemporaries (including myself, at first) know who Tallulah Bankhead was. I’m sure the same number of people don’t know who Valarie Harper is, ether.
Allegedly, Looped is based on a true story, taking place in the summer of 1965 when and highly inebriated and coked-out Tallulah Bankhead took nearly eight hours to dub or “loop” a single line of dialogue from her final feature film, Die! Die! My Darling! (Click HERE to watch the actual scene. It occurs at 4:45. In the end, the dialogue wasn’t even synced up to Tallulah’s mouth! It was a voice over! What a waste of time!!) “And so, Patricia, that diluted reverend has, in literal affect, banned me from the church.” That’s a memorable one, right there! Am I right?
Valerie Harper was phenomenal; absolutely brilliant. The only piece of work that I could compare her portrayal of Tallulah Bankhead to was the the episode of “The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour,” in which Bankhead guest-starred. I thought it was spot on. After time, Tallulah Bankhead’s image became more of a characterture than anything else, making her a fun and outrageous character on which to base a play.
The production was okay. Harper eclipsed her co-stars Brian Hutchison and Danny Miller. There was a rushed and tedious subplot about one of the men being gay. I mean, okay, I get it — it’s Broadway. But I feel like these playwrights are pulling at strings to try and incorporate the gay theme. The set was very innovative. In the end, though, the dialogue was nothing more than infamous Bankhead one-liners strung together for two hours. I’m sorry that the play did not appeal to a larger audience, because it was pretty funny.
Spotted in the audience: Judith Light.
