Four Time Emmy Award winning actress Valerie Harper stars as Tallulah Bankhead in the Pre-Broadway Engagement of Looped , a new comedy by Matthew Lombardo and directed by Rob Ruggiero. The production (direct from its sold out World Premiere at The Pasadena Playhouse) arrives at The Cuillo Centre for the Arts, prior to a Broadway bow in Summer 2009. Tony Award winning actor Jarrod Emick co-stars.
Looped tells the story of actress Tallulah Bankhead, the original celebrity bad girl who enters a film studio session to re-record (or "loop") one line of dialogue for her final film, Die, Die My Darling. What ensues is a showdown between an uptight sound editor and the outrageous legend.
Southern, but by no means a belle, Ms. Bankhead was known for her wild partying that rivaled even today's superstars, including innumerable affairs with both male and female celebrities and outlandish exploits that were too scandalous to mention. Relish in the outrageously naughty wit of this sultry-voiced stage and film star!
"The wildly enthusiastic response of Cuillo Centre's audiences to Tea at Five a couple of seasons ago gives me tremendous excitement about presenting the Pre-Broadway Engagement of Matthew's new play," said Bob Cuillo, Producer and Chief Executive Officer. "We have been following the development of this play for some time and are beyond excited to have the phenomenal Valerie Harper making her Cuillo Centre for the Arts debut!"
Joining the creative team with Lombardo and Ruggiero are Adrian W. Jones (scenic design), Alex Jaeger (costume design), Michael Gilliam (lighting design), Michael Hooker (sound design), and Charles LaPointe (hair and wig design).
LOOPED is being produced by Tony Cacciotti and David Steiner in association with Bob Cuillo.
LOOPED plays at the Cuillo Centre for the Arts, 201 Clematis, West Palm Beach. Performances begin December 31 and play through February 15, with the official press opening on Wednesday, January 7, 2009. Performance schedule is Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 8PM; Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2PM; Sundays at 6PM. Schedule notes: There is no matinee performance on Wednesday, December 31. Tickets range from $45.00 - $55.00. Tickets are available by calling the Cuillo Centre at 561-835-9226 or by visiting the Cuillo Centre Box Office. www.cuillocentre.org
BIOGRAPHIES:
Valerie Harper (Tallulah Bankhead) Four-time Emmy Award-winner Valerie Harper achieved fame as Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the spin-off series Rhoda. During her nine years as the character "Rhoda," she was the recipient of a Golden Globe Award, Harvard University Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year Award, Hollywood Women's Press Club "Golden Apple" Award, and a Photoplay Gold Medal Award. In 2000, Valerie reprised the role of Rhoda Morgenstern (along with Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards) in the ABC television movie Mary and Rhoda, which attracted nearly 18 million viewers. In 1987 she was seen as "Valerie Hogan" in the then-titled NBC series Valerie (later The Hogan Family) and also starred in the 1990 CBS series City and in the 1994 CBS series The Office. She has appeared as a special guest star on various television series. Throughout her career, Valerie has continued to work in the theatre. She performed with various companies of Second City and Story Theatre in many venues all over the country and in Canada. In 1970 she was a member of the original stage production of Story Theater in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum and opened with the show in New York when it moved to Broadway. During the run at the Ambassador Theater, Paul Sills opened his second production: Ovid's Metamorphoses (also to rave reviews) to run in repertory with Story Theater. Most happily, Valerie was a part of this joyous theatrical experience as well. In the mid-seventies, she played Los Angeles' James Doolittle Theatre and later toured in Dear Liar with Anthony Zerbe (a play comprised of a lifetime of letters between George Bernard Shaw and the actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell.) In 1983 she toured Florida with Zev Bufman's production of Agnes of God playing The Psychiatrist. In the mid-nineties Valerie starred in the New York production of Death Defying Acts by Elaine May and Woody Allen. At this time, Valerie and her husband Tony Cacciotti began developing a one-woman play based on the life and work of Pearl S. Buck, the Nobel Prize-winning author of, among many works, The Good Earth. Valerie co-wrote and performed the play All Under Heaven in New York (1999), in Los Angeles (2000) and across the country. In 2001 Valerie was back on Broadway starring in Charles Busch's hilarious comedy The Tale of the Allergist's Wife. She played "the Wife" (Marjorie Taub) for a year on Broadway and then for another year in the National Tour. Having completed her cross-country tour of Golda's Balcony, Valerie is continuing as Golda Meir for the film version of William Gibson's play. (A full bio is available upon request.)
