Ruthless!

Ruthless! The Musical is an all female musical with music by Marvin Laird and book and lyrics by Joel Paley that spoofs Broadway musicals, like Gypsy and Mame, and movies such as The Bad Seed and All About Eve. The musical premiered Off-Broadway in 1992.

Production history

The musical opened off-Broadway at the Players Theatre on March 13, 1992 and closed January 24, 1993 after 342 performances. It was directed by Joel Paley with musical direction by Marvin Laird. (Laird was later the musical director for the Broadway revivals of Annie Get Your Gun (1999) and Gypsy (2003)). The central role of Tina was played by future Broadway actress Laura Bell Bundy, ^[1] and featured Natalie Portman and Britney Spears as understudies.

Ruthless! The Musical was then produced in Los Angeles at the Canon Theatre, where it opened on November 15, 1993.^[2] A recording was made by the 1993 Los Angeles cast on Varèse Sarabande and released on March 29, 1994.

The show won the 1993 New York Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical.^[3] The musical has had a number of professional productions, particularly in regional theatre. "Ruthless! The Musical" played at the Colony Theatre, Miami, Florida, in January and February 1995, directed by Paley.^[4]

Synopsis

Act I

Judy Denmark, a bland housewife, is the mother of talented eight-year-old Tina, who declares, "I was born to entertain." At the suggestion that she should postpone her stage ambitions to be a normal child, she replies, "I've had a normal childhood. It's time to move on." Sylvia St. Croix, an overbearing and sleazy agent, encourages Tina to audition for the school play, Pippi in Tahiti, The Musical, feeding her thirst for stardom. Third-grade teacher and frustrated actress, Miss Myrna Thorn, directs Pippi. She casts an untalented (but parentally connected) girl, Louise Lerman, for the lead, making Tina the frustrated understudy. After "begging nicely and saying please," Tina "accidentally" hangs Louise from the catwalk with a jumprope so that she can play Pippi. (In the Los Angeles production, Louise is killed by a falling sandbag dropped from the rafters by Tina.) Lita Encore, Judy's adoptive mother (and Tina's grandmother), a tart-tongued theatre critic who "hates musicals", shows up to review the premiere of Pippi in Tahiti; and, In a series of revelations, we learn that Judy is the daughter of Ruth Del Marco, a Broadway star from the past who was believed to have committed suicide because of bad reviews from Lita Encore. Judy recognizes that she herself is talented. ("I'm talented! God help me, I'm talented!")

Act II

Once Tina's crime is discovered, she is sent away to the Daisy Clover School for Psychopathic Ingenues. Former housewife Judy Denmark is now a success on Broadway as diva Ginger Del Marco, but the world wants to know where she came from. "Modern Thespian" reporter Emily Block directs a pointed interview at Judy and discovers not only her housewife past but that she has a child. Tina is released from serving her time, and comes back to Ginger's fabulous penthouse apartment (and her jealous assistant, Eve). Tina seems to be reformed, but Ginger sees through the act ("you're not that good") and calls her bluff. Mother and daughter face off for the limelight. Sylvia re-enters, wanting nothing more than to take Tina with her. She reveals that she is Ruth Del Marco, and Ginger's mother. She did not commit suicide, as was believed, but instead went into hiding. Suddenly, Eve pulls out a gun and after revealing that she is Louise Lerman's ("Act One?") mother Betty Lerman, in a struggle with Ginger Delmarco, is shot dead. Tina then takes the gun that shot Eve and holds it to her mother, asking to be in cast in her new play. At that moment, Lita Encore bursts in and Sylvia struggles for the gun with Tina and is shot dead. She sings her final song, after which, Lita Encore comments "ah, she could never sing." Sylvia comes back to life one last time and shoots Lita. Ginger then becomes Judy again because of all the extremely stressful events that have taken place. She tells Tina that they'll never set foot on stage again to which Tina responds, "You're right, mother. there's no money in theater...we're moving to L.A....We'll do a sitcom!" Judy, realizing her daughter has not learned a single thing, proceeds to kill herself by electrocution. Tina begins to declare, gun in hand, that there's no money in Broadway, when she is interrupted by Miss Block, who returns looking for her pad and pen. Tina shoots her and finishes explaining that there's no money in Broadway and that she's moving to Hollywood to get a series.

Characters and original cast

This list shows the original casts of the principal productions

• Note: Though the show was written for an all female cast, it has become somewhat of a tradition to have the role of Sylvia St. Croix performed by a man simply because Joel Vig gave the best audition for the original 1992 production.

Songs

Awards and nominations

Drama Desk Awards (1991-92)

• Laura Bundy -- Outstanding Actress - Musical (nominee)
• Donna English -- Outstanding Actress - Musical (nominee)
• Joel Paley -- Outstanding Director - Musical (nominee)
• Joel Paley -- Outstanding Lyrics (winner)
• "Ruthless" -- Outstanding Musical (nominee)

Notes

References

• Plot summary, cast list and other information about Ruthless!

External links

• Ruthless! Internet Off-Broadway database listing
• Ruthless! song list and plot at guidetomusicaltheatre.com
• "New York Times" review, May 17, 1992
• An interview with Laird and Paley, talkinbroadway.com circa July 2003
• Topeka Capital-Journal review with a discussion of the antecedents to Ruthless!