Valerie Harper, Brian Hutchinson Head Out on Tour with ‘Looped’

Brian Hutchison will return to the role he originated in the upcoming tour of “Looped,” which also will star Valerie Harper.

The first stop on the U.S. national tour will be at the Bushnell Performing Arts Center in Hartford, Connecticut, where the production will play from January 24, 2013 through February 6, 2013. Following this performance, the play will also be held in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. at the Parker Playhouse from February 26 through March 3 and at the Hippodrome in Baltimore March 5 through 17. The playwright is currently in negotiations with other cities, as well.

Hutchison originated the role of “Danny Miller,” the secretive recording engineer, in the play when it premiered on Broadway in 2010.

“We are all so excited to have Brian back!” said Matthew Lombardo, the author of the play, in a statement. “He is a wonderful man, a terrific actor and amazingly funny in this role. Valerie and Brian together are an extraordinary first-class comic team!”

Harper is best known for playing Rhoda Morgenstern on three television series: “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Rhoda” and “Mary and Rhoda.” She earned for Emmy awards for this performance. She also has appeared in numerous Broadway productions, including “Subways are for Sleeping,” “Something Different,” “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” and “Ovid’s Metamorphoses.”

Here’s how producers describe the play:

Based on a true story, “Looped” takes place in the summer of 1965, when an inebriated Tallulah Bankhead (Harper) stumbled into a sound studio to re-record (or “loop”) one line of dialogue for her last movie, “Die, Die, My Darling.” Given her intoxicated state and her inability to loop the line perfectly, what ensues is a hilarious showdown between an uptight and conservative film editor, Danny Miller (Hutchison), and the outrageous legend.

The Broadway production closed after 25 regular performances and 27 previews.