THEATER REVIEW / LOOPED by MATT LOMBARDO

THEATER REVIEW / LOOPED by MATT LOMBARDO

MARCH 15-26 2022  

Fringe Theater presents the intoxicatingly funny Looped by Matt Lombardo, March 15-26, at 7pm in the Key West Armory located at 600 White Street.  

Looped was inspired by an actual 1965 recording session in which an intoxicated Tallulah Bankhead required eight hours to dub a single line from her final movie Die! Die! My Darling! From that premise, playwright Matthew Lombardo created his moving and funny play that pits the cantankerous stage and screen star against the film editor assigned to the job of getting that single line recorded and looped into the film.  

Who is Tallulah Bankhead?  

She won critical acclaim for her role in Lillian Hellman’s stage play Little Foxes in 1939 and in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Lifeboat in 1944. But by 1957, Tallulah was mostly playing guest roles as herself on television shows like the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957).  

“It is well worth the google search to find Tallulah’s appearance on the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. The episode is called The Celebrity Next Door. Her comic timing is impeccable, and she is more than willing to poke fun at the persona of Tallulah Bankhead,” says Rebecca Tomlinson, Fringe Theater’s Managing Artistic Director and director of Looped. That persona included drinking, drugging, sexing, and exhibitionism. Eventually, the brilliant actor became best known for just BEING Tallulah Bankhead, daaarling. Even now, her “pure as the driven slush” persona overshadows her work. 

Glenda Donovan plays the 63-year-old Tallulah Bankhead in Looped. Glenda is a retired drama teacher who divides her time (and theatrical endeavors) between Key West and Newburyport, MA. She is active with the Fringe Board, adjudicates new plays for two festivals in the Boston area, and is an experienced actor and director.  Fringe audiences will remember Glenda as Ruth Steiner in Fringe’s Collected Stories at the Key West Woman’s Club. Her Fringe directing credits include It’s a Wonderful Life radio play, Golda’s Balcony, and Bloomsday.”

Ray West plays Danny, Tallulah’s theatrical foil in Looped. Ray is well known in Key West as a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter. Less known is that Ray was a theater major in college. Almost 30 years later, Key West has recently given Ray the opportunity to return to the stage as an actor.  Jim Argoudelis rounds out the show’s cast as the studio sound engineer. Jim serves on Fringe’s Executive Board; this show marks his acting debut. 

Fringe’s creative team for Looped includes Kendall Cameron as Light Designer, Su Nubia as Sound Designer, Aramis Ikatu as Creative Media Director, with Don Lynch, Charlie Bengel, and Jerry Caputo (and more) as the Fringe Theater Construction Dream Team.  

Looped runs March 15-26 at 7pm at the Key West Armory. Tickets are $35 and $50 and can be purchased by phone at 305-731-0581 or online at www.fringetheater.org.  Fringe Theater is Key West’s community-focused theater. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to creating theater that enriches, educates, and entertains. For more information, email info@fringetheater.org. 

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