LOOPED Reviews

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 1:59am

The 'Original Hollywood Bad Girl,' Tallulah Bankhead makes a return to the Broadway stage, embodied by Valerie Harper, in LOOPED, a new comedy by Matthew Lombardo that officially opens tonight (Sunday, March 14) at the Lyceum on 45th Street.

The story follows Tallulah, as she's called into a sound studio in 1965 to re-record (or "loop") one line of dialogue for what would be her last film — the oft-referenced bomb known today as "Die! Die! My Darling."

Joining Ms. Harper onstage are Brian Hutchison and Michael Mulheren play film technicians.

"Southern, but by no means a belle, Bankhead was known for her wild partying and convention-defying exploits that surpassed even today's celebrity bad girls," begin press notes. "Given her inebriated state and inability to loop the line properly, what ensues is an uproarious showdown between an uptight film editor Danny Miller [Hutchison] and the outrageous legend."

On a personal note, having seen the final preview just a few hours earlier, I can lay claim to this being an exceptionally well-crafted performance by its fabulous leading lady in a rather so-so play. I'm young, so some of the references went a wee bit over my head. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed my evening. It's definitely worth the trek, but it could've easily been trimmed to 90-100 minutes sans an intermission.

Ms. Harper walks away with this one - and I wouldn't at all be rurprised if she gets across-the-board raves; with my own special nod of recognition to Brian Hutchison for a great turn as 'Danny'. There's something about Michael Mulheren that just doesn't 'click' with me - I've seen him in a few other shows these past few years, and my reaction's always the same. To his credit, his role isn't all that important - compared to Brian's. I dunno. Just my .02, I guess.

That having been said, here's my best to all involved!

Happy Opening, LOOPED!

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 3:21am

I agree with all you said about the play. Good luck Valerie!

[Luscious]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 4:58am

A 4 star performance in a 1 star show. Ms. Harper deserves better. That's my review. I saw the final preview on Saturday evening.

[gcontini2]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 1:06pm

"A 4 star performance in a 1 star show"

Well said, Luscious. I agree that Ms. Harper is really the only great thing happening here...but she is such a total night at the theater on her own, that the play doesn't really get in the way and/or matter. (You'll hardly notice the play at all.)

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 3:21pm

Can't wait to read all the praise for Valerie Harper!

[explorer]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 6:02pm

All the best to Valerie Harper tonight!!

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 6:13pm

Hollywood Reporter

"Bottom Line: Valerie Harper makes a fine and funny Tallulah Bankhead, but will anybody care?"

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film-reviews/looped-theater-review-1004075079.story

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 6:17pm

Updated On: 3/14/10 at 06:17 PM

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 6:18pm

USA TODAY
*** out of 4
'Looped' turns on Valerie Harper's fine performance
USA TODAY Looped Review

[LaCageAuxFollesFan]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 7:00pm

Joe Dziemianowicz at the DAILY NEWS gives it 3 out of 5 stars in a review that seems to follow the previous two, calling the play whisper thin.

He likes Harper, but says she comes close to caricature and while She's never subtle, she's always a hoot.

NY DAILY NEWS Review

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 7:11pm

Backstage is mixed; rave for Harper, calls the play 'soup thin':

"Nobody likes a good Tallulah Bankhead story more than I—in fact, I'll launch into my deep-throated imitation and call you "Dahling" at the least provocation—but even I get a bit tired if it goes on for two hours. That's the trouble with "Looped," Matthew Lombardo's new play, now on Broadway after runs in Pasadena, Calif.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; and Washington, D.C. Lombardo has taken a Bankhead anecdote and thinly stretched it into a full-length play.

...

Fortunately, Valerie Harper gives a tour de force performance as the battered but unbowed Bankhead. From the familiar whiskey-and-tobacco voice to the unsteady stagger, Harper captures the voracious and volatile diva. Her timing on the laugh lines is impeccable, and her follow-up reactions wring every last guffaw from them. But she's not just doing a funny impersonation. Though Lombardo's script gives the actor ridiculously obvious cues for serious passion—when Bankhead mentions she never had children or when she's asked to perform a monologue from "Streetcar"—Harper delivers the goods. She invests the heavier moments with the same honesty and concentration as the big-yuck payoffs."
Review

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 7:40pm

NY Times leak

http://elpasoinc.com/readArticleNYT.aspx?guid=ed2e2c6d-a2fc-b054-b6dc-b2584b9d6e19
Updated On: 3/14/10 at 07:40 PM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 9:17pm

Isherwood has written what I consider to be a terribly written review. He spends most of his time summarizing the plot and not enough talking about the quality of the play. He was definitely beating around the bush.

[garyl]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 9:19pm

agreed..I think it is very poorly written

[LaCageAuxFollesFan]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 9:20pm

Whenever Isherwood is MIXED about a show, he rights a Synopsis review. He'll tell you if he loves a show, he'll tell you if he hates a show, but if he's middle of the road - you're getting a synopsis from him and that's exactly what this "review" is.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 9:22pm

The reviews, so far, seem to be quotable -- or at least the portions dealing with Valerie Harper's performance. I hope it prolongs the life of this show and that Valerie gets a good shot at the Tony.

Updated On: 3/14/10 at 09:22 PM

[adamgreer]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 9:31pm

This seems to be about what was expected so far- raves for Harper, not so much for the play itself. They certainly have plenty of quotes they can use for Harper.

They should be able to run through the Tonys and maybe beyond on the strength of Harper, perhaps a little longer if she wins the Tony.

[LaCageAuxFollesFan]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 10:22pm

Harper is great here, no doubt about it, but I just don't see her winning anything for this very one note, abrasive character she's performing.

As of right now I see this as a two person race between Laura Linney (who I think will ultimately prevail with a completely nuanced character) and Jan Maxwell (who has now given the two most single handed funniest performances of the entire season.)

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 10:54pm

I saw the opening night, and have to agree that the play's not the thing - it's that wonderful performance by Valerie Harper. But, even if the play is not a total winner, it does deliver a satisfying number of laughs.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 3/14/10 at 11:22pm

TheaterMania seems pretty negative to me. And he mentions Harper only once in the entire review, I think:

"I'm bisexual -- buy me something, and I'm sexual," says Tallulah Bankhead, portrayed with impressive authority by Valerie Harper in Matthew Lombardo's Looped, now at Broadway's Lyceum Theatre under Rob Ruggiero's direction. That wisecrack is just one of innumerable off-color witticisms that register high on the laugh-o-meter -- and the shock-o-meter -- to the delight of an audience swept along by a lady whose vocabulary is salted with obscenities. While Lombardo goes far to prove the outrageous good company Bankhead could be, he doesn't go far enough to include a rounded portrait of the fabulous, though severely conflicted, life she led.

...

New Yorker writer Brendan Gill once wrote that the loquacious Bankhead wrote a good-sized novel every 24 hours. In Looped, Lombardo only supplies a far-too-truncated chapter.