Matthew Lombardo News

The Human Race Theatre Company continues its 35th year with a look at one of Hollywood’s most famous-and infamous--actresses, Tallulah Bankhead.

Looped, the biting comedy by Matthew Lombardo, takes a much-rumored event and imagines what might have actually happened, knowing Bankhead's outrageous personality, searing wit and ability to deliver a one-liner that takes no prisoners.  Looped will bring audiences back to LIVE theatre in the Loft, August 5 – 22, 2021.

Don’t have a cow man, but Theater Wit in Chicago’s Lakeview community announced today the return of live performances starting August 27, 2021 with a revival of one of its most acclaimed productions ever, Anne Washburn’s smash hit: Mr. Burns, a post electric play.

In October, 2019, Open Stage reopened the facility at 25 North Court Street after a half-million dollar renovation, featuring a brand new black box Studio Theater, a modern lobby and bar ( dubbed The Court Street Cabaret), and made a slew of other updates, kicking off a year of performances that looked to be one of the small professional house's strongest seasons ever.

Join Broadway favorite Lesli Margherita in the stream of Who's Holiday!, set for Friday, December 11, 2020. The evening benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Watch the free one-hour stream beginning at 8 pm Eastern. The performance will be available through December 15.

Human Race Theatre Company has announced the lineup for its 34th season.

Today we rewind to 2011, when Matthew Lombardo's High premiered on Broadway, starring Evan Jonigkeit, Stephen Kunken and  Kathleen Turner. The show played for only 7 performances at the Booth Theatre. The story revolves around a nun, Sister Jamison Connelly, who deals with her sordid past and the people around her with her acerbic wit and wisdom. 

On Saturday, February 22, I had the pleasure of seeing LOOPED at the Connecticut Cabaret Theatre in Berlin, CT.  This comedy by Matthew Lombardo is based on a true story that took place back in 1965.  Director Kris McMurray brings out the best in talented actress Kelly Boucher who stars as Tallulah Bankhead, as well as talented actor Chris Pearson, who plays Danny Miller.  The stage chemistry between Kelly Boucher and Chris Pearson is comically brilliant, and further enhanced by James J. Moran, who provides live vocals from the back of the theatre, as Steve the sound engineer!  The deliveries are sensational, from all three cast members, making all three characters completely believable.  The facial expressions, body language, vocal tones and mannerisms displayed by Kelly Boucher and Chris Pearson, including their reactions to each other, are phenomenal, both staying in character the whole time, to the point in which as an audience member, it is easy to forget that you are not watching the real people who are being portrayed.  The sharp contrast between Tallulah's over-the-top personality and Danny Miller's more professional and proper personality is where the majority of the humor arises.  The audience was laughing all throughout the show!

Looped depicts an actual 1965 recording session in which an intoxicated Tallulah Bankhead, portrayed by Connecticut Cabaret Theatre favorite Kelly Boucher, required eight hours to dub a single line from her final movie Die! Die! My Darling! While antagonizing the film editor, Danny Miller, played by Chris Pearson, assigned to the job.

It's the Christmas season so what should I do? I'll go to the theater and see Cindy Lou Who. WHO'S HOLIDAY the hilarious parody of Dr. Seuss's a?oeThe Grinch Who Stole Christmasa?? is now playing at The Louis Curtiss Studio Building in Kansas City through December 21. This is not a children's show like Dr. Seuss wrote, WHO'S HOLIDAY is intended for an adult audience.

Who's ready for some great holiday entertainment? There are so many great shows to see during the holiday season. If you need a break from all the holiday craziness and a chance to laugh until your cheeks hurt, hop on over to Open Stage for Who's Holiday. Who's Holiday, by Matthew Lombardo, is not your typical Christmas play. It is a show with only one actor. It answers the age-old question of what happens to characters after the original story ends. Told by Cindy Lou Who, it is the story of what happened to her after the Grinch's famous redemption in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The story is told in typical Seussian rhyme. Rachel Landon will be taking on the role of Cindy Lou at Open Stage, and she took some time to talk to us about Who's Holiday, directed by Stuart Landon, opening on November 16th.

After a Sold Out KC debut last Holiday season, she's back! Cindy Lou Who returns in WHO'S HOLIDAY by Matthew Lombardo and is presented by Padgett Productions. 

Good Theater ushers in the holiday season with the Maine premiere of WHO'S HOLIDAY! by Matthew Lombardo. The production opens November 9th and plays through November 30th, 2019 at Good Theater's home, the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress Street, Portland.  For tickets and information, please call the Box Office at (207) 835-0895 or visit www.goodtheater.com.

Based on real events, a?oeLoopeda?? takes place in the summer of 1965, when Tallulah Bankhead needed to redub - or loop - one line of dialogue for what would be her final movie. What starts out as a friendly visit to the studio quickly dissolves into a hilarious battle of wits and wills between the divine diva and the film's editor.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, stage and screen star, Valerie Harper, passed away following a decade-long battle with cancer. She was 80 years old. Today BroadwayWorld remembers Harper with a look back into our archives.

General public tickets are now on sale for a one-day-only Master Class exploring the craft of acting taught by Kathleen Turner, a living legend of the stage and screen.

According to the New York Post, Faye Dunaway, who just wrapped up her run in the Broadway-bound play Tea at Five, has been fired from the production. 

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Tony Award Winner Beth Leavel will play the title role in an industry reading of Matthew Lombardo's new two-character comedy CONVERSATIONS WITH MOTHER to be directed by Noah Himmelstein. Bobby Conte Thornton has been announced to play the role of Bobby, the son of Leavel's character.

Tony Award Winner Beth Leavel will play the title role in an industry reading of Matthew Lombardo's new two-character comedy CONVERSATIONS WITH MOTHER to be directed by Noah Himmelstein.

Playwright Matthew Lombardo revisits his 2002 play as a one-act solo vehicle for Faye Dunaway, now receiving a pre-Broadway premiere at the Huntington Avenue Theatre in Boston. Attractive design elements evoke the Old Saybrook, Connecticut world of Katharine Hepburn, but neither the script nor the star can conjure her spirit and engage us in the story.