Looped

#1

Looped

Posted: 3/20/10 at 10:04am

I walked out of this mammoth piece of dinner theater at intermission (though I was contemplating earlier). What did I miss?

Updated On: 3/20/10 at 10:04 AM

#2

Looped

Posted: 3/20/10 at 10:28am

...the entire ending. Hate it when that happens!

#3

Looped

Posted: 3/20/10 at 10:46am

Not to mention an amazing performance by Valerie Harper. You really screwed the pooch on this one, Yank.

#4

Looped

Posted: 3/20/10 at 1:41pm

See, I see it as sparing myself from another hour of torture, but to each, their own.

#5

Looped

Posted: 3/20/10 at 1:52pm

Well, it's good we all have different opinions, I enjoyed the play, but it dragged at times and it is true that the jokes kinda get old after 20 mins.
The 2nd act has a twist, so it is worth staying. But then again, the play seems like a regional play at times. If it wasn't for the fact that Valerie Harper stars in it, it would have never made it to Broadway. It's very gay and campy, and you said you are a straight male, so it's not a play I would recommend to any heterosexual male, EVER!

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"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one". -Felicia Finley-

#6

Looped

Posted: 3/20/10 at 2:52pm

I agree with muscle23ftl in that the twist (or the "meat" - what little there is of it) of the play is in Act 2. Had they cut the third or fourth repetition of the same jokes, they could have made it a tighter 90-100 minute play and been just as effective.

#7

Looped

Posted: 3/21/10 at 12:10am

Well THIS gay male hated it and wished he had walked out at intermission. The whole thing was inane, other than Valerie Harper whose schtick also starts to get old after a while. And please... TWIST??? YOU CALL THAT A TWIST? You need to see more theatre, people.

#8

Looped

Posted: 3/21/10 at 12:21am

"And please... TWIST??? YOU CALL THAT A TWIST? You need to see more theatre, people"

LOL!!! Well, I don't know what to call it, the play kinda shifts a little bit, it's not all about Tallullah anymore.

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"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one". -Felicia Finley-

#9

Looped

Posted: 3/21/10 at 12:22am

The 'twist' is rather predictable. I nearly walked out at intermission, but I was at least laughing. It really needed to be cut to 90 min.

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"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don't want to do it." -Stephen Colbert

#10

Looped

Posted: 3/21/10 at 12:34am

I honestly didn't LOVE the play by any means, but I have seen a lot worse. I tend to like big casts in plays and musicals and this play has only 2 characters and a half.

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"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one". -Felicia Finley-

#11

Looped

Posted: 3/21/10 at 1:29am

I enjoyed this, but I agree that this would have been significantly better by trimming much of the first act and making this 90 minutes.

#12

Looped

Posted: 3/21/10 at 9:47am

The twist is that Brian Hutchison's character is gay?

#13

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Posted: 3/21/10 at 9:55am

Yup! Intense, isn't it?

#14

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Posted: 3/21/10 at 10:43am

I saw this at Arena Stage, and I thought the point is it's SUPPOSED to feel overly long. It took Bankhead 3 sessions to record the one line. If they made it a neat little one act, it would be missing the point completely. The audience is supposed to get just as frustrated with her as the the staff trying to deal with her.

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Yes that's me. No, it's not a Rent homage.

#15

Looped

Posted: 3/22/10 at 10:30am

Yes, all you missed was that a cardboard character played by an exceptionally hammy actor got far too much attention in Act 2. I sat there trying to come up with some justification for Tallullah to be so interested in this droopy bore. Why was she so insistent that he tell her his banal tale?

I still think Harper did a terrific performance, though. The play itself was, as mentioned earlier, pure dinner theatre.