As playwright Matthew Lombardo continues to develop the upcoming Arena Stage production of Looped starring four-time Emmy Award-winning Valerie Harper (Rhoda on The Mary Tyler Moore Show) as Tallulah Bankhead, a casting change has taken place. Jay Goede, known for his work on Broadway in Angels in America, A Year with Frog and Toad and Sex and Longing, will now play opposite Harper in the pre-Broadway staging, directed by Rob Ruggiero at Arena Stage at the Lincoln Theatre May 29 through June 28, 2009. Full release to follow at a later date.
"As the play has evolved, I found it necessary to reconstruct the character of Danny Miller," Lombardo remarks. "And although the previously announced
Chad Allen is a fine talent, the demands of the play now require a different actor in the role. And I am extremely excited to have the remarkably gifted Broadway veteran
Jay Goede joining our production."
Created by Lombardo, writer of the hit play Tea at Five, and directed by Ruggiero, director of
Arena Stage's Ella, Looped tells the story of actress
Tallulah Bankhead, the original celebrity bad girl, who stumbles into 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, Danny Miller, and the outrageous legend. Southern, but by no means a belle, Ms. Bankhead was known for her wild partying that out-shone even today's superstars, including innumerable affairs with both male and female celebrities and outlandish exploits that were even investigated by the British secret service.
The Los Angeles Times raves that in Looped "entertainment value is guaranteed...
Valerie Harper brings
Tallulah Bankhead's outrageousness and glamour to life," and Hollywood Reporter writes, "Harper is a revelation in Matthew Lombardo's riveting new play!" Audiences will relish the promiscuity, scandal and outrageous wit of this sultry-voiced stage and film star.
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 theater. 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 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 composed 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.
Jay Goede (Danny Miller) starred on Broadway in Angels in America (opposite
Cynthia Nixon and
F. Murray Abraham), A Year with Frog and Toad (opposite Mark Lynn-Baker), Sex and Longing (opposite
Sigourney Weaver and
Dana Ivey) and played Cliff in the National Tour of Cabaret (opposite
Joely Fisher,
Leah Thompson). His Off-Broadway credits include A Letter from Ethyl Kennedy, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Gross Indecency: the Three Trials of
Oscar Wilde and the title role in Pericles at The Public Theatre. He has performed in regional theaters across the country including The Old Globe, The Guthrie, Yale Repertory Theatre, The Intiman and Shakespeare Theatre Company in D.C.
Looped is being produced by Tony Cacciotti and
David Steiner in association with
Arena Stage.
For ticket information, please call (202) 488-3300 or visit www.arenastage.org.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director
Molly Smith, Washington, D.C.-based
Arena Stage has become the largest theater in the country dedicated to American plays and playwrights. Founded in 1950 by Zelda Fichandler, Thomas Fichandler and Edward Mangum,
Arena Stage was one of the nation's original resident theaters and has a distinguished record of leadership and innovation in the field. With the opening of the new Mead Center for American Theater in 2010,
Arena Stage will be a leading center for the production, development and study of American theater. Now in its sixth decade,
Arena Stage serves a diverse annual audience of more than 200,000. For more information please visit
www.arenastage.org.
Photo: William Fowler and Jay Goede
