Looped Launches National Tour

Playwright and Connecticut native Matthew Lombardo, Brian Hutchison, Valerie Harper, Matthew Montelongo and Director Rob Ruggiero. Photo: Lauren Yarger

The launch for national Tour of Looped by Matthew Lombardo and starring Valerie Harper as film legend Tallulah Bankhead was held Monday, Jan. 7 at Pearl Studios in New York.

 

Brian Hutchison, who played Danny, the beliguered film editor trying to get one line of dialogue recorded for Bankhead's last film 1965's last film, "Die! Die! My Darling!," reprises the role for the tour which launches at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford Jan. 24-Feb. 6.

 

Matthew Montelongo joins the production, directed by TheaterWorks Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero, as Steve, the sound technician. Additional tour dates are scheduled for Fort Lauderdale (Parker Playhouse Feb. 26-March 3) and Baltimore (The Hippodrome Theatre March 5-17) with more locations expected to be announced soon (tour's website will go live next week).

 

The tour launches shortly after Harper's new memoir, "I Rhoda," (Gallery Books) releases Jan 15 (look for her on Good Morning America and the other morning shows starting Jan, 14). Harper received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the short 2010 Broadway production of Looped (also directed by Ruggiero). Read the review here.

Looped is produced by Tony Cacciotti, Ann Cady Scott & The Tallulah Organization in association with The Pasadena Playhouse. The design team includes Adrian Jones (sets), William Ivey Long (costumes) Michael Gilliam (lighting) and Michael Hooker (sound).