Stage Banter: The Arena Stage Blog

"Looped" is going to Broadway!

by Janine Sobeck

For all you Tallulah Bankhead and Valerie Harper fans, the news is official.  Looped, which played at Arena this past summer, is going up to Broadway!  Playing at the Lyceum, previews begin February 19th and the show officially opens on March 14th.

For all of you who are searching for some more info on the show, Tallulah and Valerie, check out all the behind-the-scenes info on Sub/text.  Let me tell you...Valerie Harper takes you on a wild ride! 

 

 

Some Loopy discussions

by Janine Sobeck

Yesterday marked the final post show discussion for our current production of Looped.  We've had some great and lively discussions over the course of the run.  While so many people had great memories of Valerie (lots of Rhoda fans out there!), it was always great to hear the memories that people have of Tallulah - whether in person or from her performances.  While she is such a larger than life Hollywood personality, audience members have continually connected on a personal level with the struggles she's had, and the perceptions she has on live. 

One line in particular, (I won't spoil it, but it has to do with pain and suffering in life) has particularly hit home.  In the conversation yesterday, Valerie was asked to repeat it because of the impact it had had on several audience members.  Valerie continued to talk about the truth and wisdom in the line, based in the knowledge that so many people have to deal with horrific, unimaginable things/events in their lives.  Tallulah with the heartbreaks of her early childhood - losing her mother, her relationship with her father, etc - as well as a myriad of other people.  And yet, there is greatness and beauty in the ability to get beyond the events and continue to live your life in a way that the event does not win.  Tallulah definitely did that.  Playwright Matthew Lombardo has, from the personal stories he shared, has definitely done that.  And the touching stories that audience members shared with me privately after the discussion, many around us have managed to do it as well.

It's closing weekend, so there's not many more opportunities to find out what the line is.  But let me tell you, the impact is reverberating throughout our audiences.

All sides of Tallulah

by Janine Sobeck

Anyone who stays for one of our post-show discussions will probably hear me say at some point that they are one of my favorite parts of my job.  And while just the chance to sit on stage with the cast would be a treat, I am continuously delighted by the conversations that transpire between us and the audience.

Yesterday we had the first post-show discussion for Looped, made extra special by the fact that playwright Matthew Lombardo joined us on stage.  Along with the genuine love and enthusiasm for the performances of Valerie, Jay, and Michael, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of stories that people had about Talullah - personal encounters at a father's horse farm, visits to her grave site (which is located in Maryland), and the memories of her many television and film performances (a favorite tended to the be the Lucy and Dezi show).  While Matthew and Valerie are correct in their saying that they have created their "own versions" of Tallulah - striving to make her a real person and not an impersentation - the work is continuing to resonate with some of Tallulah's biggest fans.  Not only with her crazy antics, famous voice and larger than life personality, but with her geniune heart and generous nature.  The stories from the audience, combined with the tidbits and insights the cast and Matthew had from the developmental process, continued to expand the experience that everyone was having with this complex and vivacious woman.  An experience that continued to grow with the second post show after today's matinee. 

And the best part is...there are still more to come.

Valerie on the Town!

by Amrita Mangus, Allen Lee Hughes Dramaturgy Fellow

Tomorrow evening, actress Valerie Harper sets aside her Tallulah Bankhead costume to don another role: the Celebrity Grand Marshall at the Capital Pride Parade! The parade will take place between 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. and begins in Dupont Circle at the intersection of 23rd and P street.

Valerie has been a busy lady this week. In addition to her live appearance in the parade tomorrow, she's also participated in a slew of television interviews, including the morning show on MyFoxDC and the evening show on WUSA.

If you have not seen Looped yet and are eager to snag a couple of FREE tickets, enter our Tell Tallulah Your Secrets contest . Hurry for the chance to dish out your dirt - the contest ends on June 15th.

The reviews are in for Looped!

by Ronee Penoi, Allen Lee Hughes Directing Fellow

Both the cast and the creators of Looped are receiving critical acclaim for bringing this story of original celebrity "bad girl" Tallulah Bankhead to life. Jayne Blanchard of The Washington Times gives Looped the "Maximum rating: Four Stars" and Peter Marks of The Washington Post says that "Harper gives surgical-caliber zing."

Leslie Milk of Washingtonian.com calls Harper's performance "divine" and cheers that "Arena Stage has had an outstanding season, and this Broadway-bound production is the capper." Debbie Jackson is warning audiences, "Don't get left out" on DC Theatre Scene, and the DC Traveler is urging audiences to "See it now."

The design elements of Looped are specifically getting a shout-out - Baltimore Sun applauds the set and costume design of Looped, calling Adrian W. Jones' set "evocative" and William Ivey-Long's costume design "spot-on." MetroWeekly's Tom Avila talked about the dual dramatic and comedic qualities of Looped, "......scathingly funny, deliciously inappropriate, and more surprising than anything else, play gifted with a delicate and touching soul. Sometimes, the saying goes, you have to laugh to keep from crying. Try to fight either as hard as you can. You will end up doing both."

Congratulations to the team of Looped!     

What would Tallulah do?

by Janine Sobeck

Opening night is here.  Tonight the lights of the Lincoln Theatre will be ablaze as Valerie Harper, Jay Goede and Michael Orenstein take the stage for our production of Looped.  And I can't help wondering, if Tallulah Bankhead was coming to the show, what would she do?

I use the verb "do" specifically.  I'm sure what she would "say" would be quite interesting as well, but the more I have read and learned about the life and career of Tallualah - and her love of keeping the spotlight trained on herself through some very crazy antics - the more I'm convinced that she would be in rare form for the opening of a show that celebrates her unique existence. 

If you don't know many Tallulah stories, you should do some digging around in Sub/Text.  The tales you will find there will definitely give you a sense for the vivacious character who you will meet on stage.  She definitely believed in living life to its fullest and refused to abide by anyone'srules.  After all, she isn't called the "original celebrity bad girl" for nothing.

Back in the Loop

by Michael Orenstein, actor in Looped

 

I can do naught but apologize, dear reader, when I was asked to contribute to this blog I envisioned myself giving you all daily updates on the rehearsal process of Looped, not taking into account how tiring that process can be. So it’s been a couple of weeks since my last missive, and much has happened.

 

For the first week we used a rehearsal space, with tapelines marked out on the floor to simulate the dimensions of the actual stage at the Lincoln Theater. Rehearsals went well; each day tweaks were made to performances and to words and lines in the play itself. It was exciting to see not only the new things that Jay Goede brings to the role, but the changes in nuance his work brings to the production as a whole. Most of the larger changes were made to the opening scene of the play to give it more immediacy and to flesh out the character of Danny. As a consequence, the character I portray has changed quite a bit, in response to what Danny needs in the play. I have relished being able to play something somewhat different from the last two productions of the play – not that there was anything wrong with what went before, but it does help to keep it fresh and interesting to play something new.

 

We worked out new comedy and dramatic beats in the rehearsal space, and then moved into the final phases of rehearsal in the Lincoln itself. No matter how closely you try to make a rehearsal space match the actual venue, it’s not the same, and changes to timing, actor placement and even some of the words have been necessary since we got the thing up on its feet with lights and the set. Jokes that played well in a flat rehearsal space had to be reworked in the face of the immensity of the actual theater. Little tweaks, such as when a character moves, or which way they turn their head or move their arms, have been worked out by Rob, the director. Timing of lines was also changed to suit the new environs.

 

And now, we’ve put the show up in front of five preview audiences, and again, after each show, we’ve learned more about what works and what doesn’t quite. More little changes to movement and timing, a couple of word changes. As far as the changes go – it’s a delicate balance with the audience. The writer and director listen to the crowd to see what moves them, what holds their interest – but unlike in movies where often one test audience can alter large chunks of a film, we usually let a few audiences give us an overall feel for what needs to be done. If something hasn’t landed (worked the way the writer intended) with all (or most) of the preview audiences so far – you can bet that he, Matthew, has spent the last couple of days coming up with new ways to convey what he wanted in that moment.

 

Now we have two more previews, with rehearsal all day prior to the shows to incorporate the changes that Rob and Matthew have come up with, and we’ll see how the next two audiences respond. Then, it’s opening on Thursday night, and the play is essentially set – at least until it moves to another theater.

 

So, five previews – what has been the response? I don’t want to sound like a shill for the play – but they have been great. Each audience has laughed at different moments, hung on different words, as will always happen with live people; but equally, each audience has responded with incredible warmth and excitement. Our curtain calls have been somewhat rapturous – it feels like people have really been on a journey with us, which, after all, is the whole point.

 

I think we have a hit on our hands, and thank each and every one of you who supports the Arena Stage for giving us the opportunity to bring it here and to learn from you.

 

I hope to write more - no promises.

 

Valerie Harper invites you to Looped

Recently Valerie Harper sat down to talk about her upcoming production of Looped here at Arena.  Check out the video below to get your own special invitation.

Looped Sub/Text is now live!

by Janine Sobeck

Get ready to dig into the wild life of Tallulah Bankhead during the Golden Age of Hollywood.  Complete with an interview with playwright Matthew Lombardo, a spotlight on our leading actress Valerie Harper, and tons of pictures and videos of Tallulah, these Sub/Text pages will dive you right into the world of Looped.  And you'll even learn what "Looping" is...

Stepping into Looped

by Michael Karl Orenstein, playing the role of Steve in Looped

Okay, tomorrow I start rehearsal for Looped for the third time. Two points to clarify – one, Arena Stage is the third leg in Looped’s journey toward Broadway, and two, I say "I start" rehearsal because everyone else involved in the show has been rehearsing for the past two weeks – in Hartford, Connecticut. Not being one of the leads (that distinction goes to Valerie Harper and Jay Goede) – I’m not needed for the full three weeks of rehearsing, just the last full week of intense preparation leading up to preview week.

 

I must say, I’m always curious as to what they’re doing up there in CT. As you may or may not know, a play is a living, breathing thing – not only is each night’s performance a slightly different experience than the night before – but the playwright also works on the script throughout the play’s pre-Broadway run. Every couple of days, I’ve been getting new versions of the script – a line change here, a new line there, an old line removed – never big changes, but changes. Maybe Matthew (the playwright) saw a better way of saying what he wanted to say; maybe through rehearsals he saw a new shade of one of the characters, a new facet he could expand upon, or maybe Rob (the director) or one of the actors made a suggestion that Matthew liked. Whatever it was that precipitated the change, a change was made and it’ll be tried before audiences during preview week to see if it works.

 

Now, about me: I love the process, I love the conversations, suggestions, arguments, inspirations that shape a play in progress. And yet, I’m here, in DC waiting for the rest of the cast. With each new script I sit and wonder what went into each new piece – why a line I loved is gone, how that great new line (or sometimes entire scene) came about, or what were they thinking with this line? I don’t know, but I have a lot of time on my hands and a vivid imagination, so by the time I meet up with the rest of the cast, I’ll have made up all my own reasons for the changes. And, of course, I have to incorporate any of my character’s changes into my performance. Sometimes, having thought that a change was for one reason, I come into rehearsal with the interpretation that what my character is going through at that moment is X, when really it’s Y. Of course that’s what the director’s there for, to fill me in on his and the writer’s vision of the scene. But, man, I hate being wrong. Hate it – even though, of course, it happens – has to, that’s part of the play’s life – various interpretations being brought together, discussed, and incorporated into a fully realized performance.

 

I’m nervous about tomorrow – everyone else has had two weeks to get all chummy, and I’m going to step in, new. Even though I’ve been with the play from the beginning, there’s always shared experiences that the rest of the cast has had that I haven’t shared, so it takes a day or two to get back up to the feeling of ‘family’ we actors like to talk about during E! interviews about our latest movie or the sitcom we were in twenty years ago – how all of the cast and crew were really a family. It could be from the dysfunctional families that we all came from that made us get into to acting to begin with, I’m not sure – it could be the heightened intensity of the relationships we all share when compared to, say, working at Footlocker – we see the best and the worst of each other – sometimes everyday – just like a family. And whatever happens, we make up and keep going, because, like a family – we need each other – to make the play work, to make the next six weeks of practically living together work, and to get us through the trials provided by you – the audience. Because without you…

 

Well, I could go on forever – and probably will over the next few weeks. Keep reading for more backstage happenings on Looped. Oh, and if you can, try and come out to either a preview performance or a first week performance, and then come to one in the last week – you’ll see what I mean about a play being a living thing – it’s so interesting to see how it’s changed.