Actress VALERIE HARPER has vowed to keep her Broadway flop LOOPED alive in regional theatres after landing a Leading Actress Tony Award nomination for her role as TALLULAH BANKHEAD in the play.

Her nod has come less than a month after the show closed in New York and Harper admits its a huge acknowledgement for the cast, director Rob Ruggiero and playwright Matthew Lombardo.

She tells WENN, "I can't say vindication but it's very, very sweet. I can't say bittersweet because we closed on April 11th, so I've had three weeks or so to sob and be upset... It kind of has solidified us in Broadway history even though the show closed early."

And Harper, who is now touring with the production, insists the show failed because an investor dropped out at the last minute.

She adds, "He dropped out to the tune of an excess of $500,000, so everybody else was trying to put in money. My husband contributed substantially and other investors stepped up, but I don't think we had enough publicity and enough advertising.

"The truth is you have to clear at least $800,000 a week. We were underfunded."

But the actress' Tony Awards nomination has given the play a new life as it tours America: "I'm gonna keep playing it in other cities. It's not over yet by any means."