#1
Posted: 2/19/10 at 10:23am
Any one seeing the first preview of Looped tonight?
#6
Posted: 2/19/10 at 8:07pm
Tomorrow night for me.
"I hope your Fanny is bigger than my Peter."
Mary Martin to Ezio Pinza opening night of Fanny.
#7
Posted: 2/19/10 at 10:59pm
OK, so here's the deal. Valerie Harper is doing the best she can in a play that, while having many individual funny moments, just is not very well written. The standing ovation she got from almost the entire audience (in a packed house...all 3 levels) simultaneously was definitely well-deserved. She is very funny in her joke delivery. But, the layout of the play and the joke setup gets stale after about 20 minutes. Many people (especially the older crowd) will love this play. If you're looking for mindless entertainment and a boozy caricature of a once Hollywood starlet, you'll love it. If you are looking for good writing, this is not the play to see.
Updated On: 2/19/10 at 10:59 PM
#9
Posted: 2/19/10 at 11:03pm
2 hours on the dot. One 15 minute intermission starting almost exactly at 9 pm.
#10
Posted: 2/19/10 at 11:30pm
I'm barely even familiar with who Tallulah Bankhead is, and while I largely agree with almost all of what BJH said, I was surprised that I kinda-sorta-enjoyed it.
It's a familiar caricature, yes. It's a one joke/idea show that has no right sustaining a full-length play (there's literally no story), yes.
However, even though it's bloated -- by definition -- it never dragged for me, and a lot of the (perhaps overly scripted) one-liners made me laugh. I guess I was expecting for the play to be overly reliant upon familiarity with Bankhead, and the dialogue would be more cliched and playing to the elderly crowd. While it was sterotypically "sassy" I suppose, I wasn't expecting so much of it to be so simultaneously sharp-witted and filthy (a lot of hilariously casual f-bombs, and vagina jokes). Compare this to the currently playing "Mr. and Mrs. Fitch," which also is overly reliant on one-liners and only one-liners, except those ones are, by and large, about as funny as cancer.
Harper is, if not giving a balls-out BRILLIANT performance, tremendously entertaining to watch, and what she's doing takes actual skill (and she manages to infuse this caricature with a bit of pathos as well).
Okay, I just realized I'm sounding overly positive here. It's not a great play -- I can't imagine anyone thinking it is. But a lot of people are going to really enjoy it. Me? I enjoyed it in spurts, and probably would give it a full-on recommendation if it was a one-act, or fleshed out a bit more.
As it is, not bad.
It's a familiar caricature, yes. It's a one joke/idea show that has no right sustaining a full-length play (there's literally no story), yes.
However, even though it's bloated -- by definition -- it never dragged for me, and a lot of the (perhaps overly scripted) one-liners made me laugh. I guess I was expecting for the play to be overly reliant upon familiarity with Bankhead, and the dialogue would be more cliched and playing to the elderly crowd. While it was sterotypically "sassy" I suppose, I wasn't expecting so much of it to be so simultaneously sharp-witted and filthy (a lot of hilariously casual f-bombs, and vagina jokes). Compare this to the currently playing "Mr. and Mrs. Fitch," which also is overly reliant on one-liners and only one-liners, except those ones are, by and large, about as funny as cancer.
Harper is, if not giving a balls-out BRILLIANT performance, tremendously entertaining to watch, and what she's doing takes actual skill (and she manages to infuse this caricature with a bit of pathos as well).
Okay, I just realized I'm sounding overly positive here. It's not a great play -- I can't imagine anyone thinking it is. But a lot of people are going to really enjoy it. Me? I enjoyed it in spurts, and probably would give it a full-on recommendation if it was a one-act, or fleshed out a bit more.
As it is, not bad.
Updated On: 2/19/10 at 11:30 PM
#11
Posted: 2/19/10 at 11:52pm
I, for the most part, agree with MiracleElixir. I had no idea who Tallulah Bankhead was, but I found myself LOLing along with the rest of the audience (pretty sure I was one of the youngest people in that theatre)
I think all three actors are doing a great job with what they are given. Harper is clearly the standout, and she is definitely delivering an amazing performance.
The show had my attention for the full two hours, and the audience seemed to be eating it up. And, for what its worth, half of the mezzanine was empty.
It reminded me a lot of Memphis: an amateur book and a boozy main character, but I enjoyed Looped a LOT more.
I think all three actors are doing a great job with what they are given. Harper is clearly the standout, and she is definitely delivering an amazing performance.
The show had my attention for the full two hours, and the audience seemed to be eating it up. And, for what its worth, half of the mezzanine was empty.
It reminded me a lot of Memphis: an amateur book and a boozy main character, but I enjoyed Looped a LOT more.
#12
Posted: 2/20/10 at 7:48am
IRENA'S VOW of the season?
"When the audience comes in, it changes the temperature of what you've written." -Stephen Sondheim
#13
Posted: 2/20/10 at 11:02am
Going in, all I knew about Bankhead was her appearance on The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour, and the short biography about her in Playbill. I was expecting one-liners and "DAAAAAAAHLINGS" and I got them. But I was NOT expecting the emotional range of Valerie Harper.
After the first 15 minutes of her performance, I began to worry that the story wasn't going anywhere but dirty jokes and drinking humor, but I WAS WRONG. The inclusion of "A Streetcar Named Desire" monologues, set, and music was brilliant, eloquent, and so very effective.
Yes, the script is not perfect, but we should be thanking our lucky stars that we have the chance to see Valerie Harper giving an amazing, inspiring performance.
Everyone interested in theatre, ESPECIALLY ACTORS, needs to see Looped.
After the first 15 minutes of her performance, I began to worry that the story wasn't going anywhere but dirty jokes and drinking humor, but I WAS WRONG. The inclusion of "A Streetcar Named Desire" monologues, set, and music was brilliant, eloquent, and so very effective.
Yes, the script is not perfect, but we should be thanking our lucky stars that we have the chance to see Valerie Harper giving an amazing, inspiring performance.
Everyone interested in theatre, ESPECIALLY ACTORS, needs to see Looped.
#14
Posted: 2/20/10 at 11:38am
While I think there MIGHT have been something in nicholas24's Kool-Aid, your IRENA'S VOW comparison isn't terribly applicable, WayTooBroadway.
This play isn't striving for a ton of resonance beyond being an entertaining character study (which it succeeds at about 60% of the time), and I'd say Harper's performance is (oddly, for such a "big" character) more nuanced and given more shading than Feldshuh's heroic saint.
I'm sure there's been another play in the recent past that existed purely to give an actress a big scenery-chewing showcase, but I'm drawing a blankly...
This play isn't striving for a ton of resonance beyond being an entertaining character study (which it succeeds at about 60% of the time), and I'd say Harper's performance is (oddly, for such a "big" character) more nuanced and given more shading than Feldshuh's heroic saint.
I'm sure there's been another play in the recent past that existed purely to give an actress a big scenery-chewing showcase, but I'm drawing a blankly...
#15
Posted: 2/20/10 at 1:09pm
"I think there MIGHT have been something in nicholas24's Kool-Aid"
Wow, do you buy two seats like obese people do when flying? You know, one for you and one for your ego?
Wow, do you buy two seats like obese people do when flying? You know, one for you and one for your ego?
#16
Posted: 2/21/10 at 2:08am
Thanks for the opionions. Looking forward to the show on Wednesday.
But really CyCo? You don't know who Bankhead is? Or what she was?
I'm 40-something. She died the year I was born. She didn't make a lot of movies, BUT she was infamous.
If you type "Bankhead" into You-Tube you get the Lucy episode, her Batman episode, "Lifeboat" and lots more of her TV appearances. She was amazing on Jack Parr.
Tennessee Williams wrote Blanche DuBois AND Princess Kosmonopolis ("Sweet Bird of Youth") FOR her, and about her.
To put it in perspective, Tallulah was the Courtney Love of her generation, but with wit and talent.
I'm looking forward to seeing Valerie Harper as Tallu. I suspect Bankhead would have made a better "Rhoda" than Harper makes a Bankhead, but we'll see.
But really CyCo? You don't know who Bankhead is? Or what she was?
I'm 40-something. She died the year I was born. She didn't make a lot of movies, BUT she was infamous.
If you type "Bankhead" into You-Tube you get the Lucy episode, her Batman episode, "Lifeboat" and lots more of her TV appearances. She was amazing on Jack Parr.
Tennessee Williams wrote Blanche DuBois AND Princess Kosmonopolis ("Sweet Bird of Youth") FOR her, and about her.
To put it in perspective, Tallulah was the Courtney Love of her generation, but with wit and talent.
I'm looking forward to seeing Valerie Harper as Tallu. I suspect Bankhead would have made a better "Rhoda" than Harper makes a Bankhead, but we'll see.
#17
Posted: 3/2/10 at 10:48pm
I just saw Looped tonight and thought it was great. Very funny, but with some depth. there was more than just one-liners..it show her humanity and even explored the character of the film editor.
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