‘Ruthless!’ is back with a vengeance

‘BORN TO ENTERTAIN’: (left to right) Peter Land, Tori Murray & Kim Maresca in ‘Ruthless!’ Photo: Carol Rosegg

RUTHLESS! THE MUSICAL
Book and lyrics by Joel Paley
Music by Marvin Laird
Directed by Joel Paley
St. Luke’s Theatre
308 West 46th Street, (212-362-2590)
http://www.ruthlessthemusical.com

By Scott Harrah

Good parodies of show business are rare, but one of the best is Joel Paley and Marvin Laird’s 1992 Off-Broadway cult classic Ruthless! The Musical, now playing in an open run at St. Luke’s after its hit cabaret-style revival at Stage 72/The Triad last year.

The show played in various venues nationwide, but has attracted press attention over the years because of the famous names that performed in the original. Back in 1992, a then unknown Laura Bell Bundy played the lead role of 8-year-old Tina Denmark (with young Britney Spears and Natalie Portman as understudies). Fast forward 23 years later to this current revival, with 10-year-old Tori Murray as Tina.

Ruthless! The Musical makes winking, hysterical nods to every campy movie and musical ever made and more. Loosely based on such films as The Bad Seed and All About Eve, and the musicals Gypsy and Mame, the story centers on Tina Denmark and her perfect, Stepford Wife-like mother Judy (Kim Maresca, wonderfully reprising the role from last year). When Tina yearns to try out for the lead in the upcoming school play Pippi in Tahiti, the conniving talent agent Sylvia St. Croix (the terrific Peter Land) mysteriously arrives, insisting on representing the overzealous kid.

Tina will do anything to play Pippi Longstocking and wear the character’s demented red pigtail wig, but she is devastated when spoiled brat Louise Lerman (Tracy Jai Edwards) is cast instead, and poor Tina must play Pippi’s dog. Sylvia convinces the play’s director, third-grade teacher Miss Thorn (Andrea McCullough), to let Tina be Louise’s understudy. One can imagine what happens next as Tina, modeled after Rhoda Penmark in The Bad Seed, plans to be the one and only star of the show. Yes, the plot is predictable, but that is all part of the fun. There are too many great one-liners to mention (and doing so would be a spoiler anyway).

The brassy Rita McKenzie, as Judy’s mother Lita Encore, a bitchy theater critic, is one of the show’s highlights, particularly when she hams it up in the rousing number “I Hate Musicals,” channeling Ethel Merman.

Book and lyric writer Joel Paley jabs the satirical needle into every show-biz reference imaginable, making Ruthless! The Musical a must-see. (Mr. Paley actually makes a goofy cameo toward the end.)

For those who caught last year’s edition, the latest incarnation of Ruthless! has some fun changes. Peter Land, with his native Brit accent, gives Sylvia the perfect mix of elegance and bitchiness. Mr. Land’s comic timing is flawless. In addition, Tori Murray plays Tina with a winning combination of sweetness and malevolence. Miss Murray is so adorable and innocent-looking that her character’s disturbing arc is all the more shocking.

Kim Maresca is also especially noteworthy as Judy Denmark, Tina’s mom. The show is as much about Judy as it is Tina’s vehicle, and Ms. Maresca has really blossomed as an actress since last year. Ms. Maresca is in fine voice here, and her delivery of the show’s one-liners (particularly in the opening scenes) is impeccable.

Now that Ruthless! has returned to the New York stage, it would be negligent for any critic to not mention that some of the scenes toward the end of this scaled-down 90-minute show (originally performed as two acts in 1992) could probably be cut to make things more streamlined and even funnier. However, despite the show’s minor flaws, the cast is superb, and all are great singers. This self-proclaimed “Stage Mother of All Musicals” is wickedly hysterical, lighthearted summer fare that anyone into camp and parodies of old Hollywood will not want to miss.

TALENT’S ALL IN THE FAMILY: (left to right) Peter Land, Tori Murray & Kim Maresca. Photo: Carol Rosegg

‘RUTHLESS!’ PEOPLE: (left to right) Kim Maresca, Peter Land & Rita McKenzie in ‘Ruthless!’ Photo: Carol Rosegg

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published July 13, 2015
Reviewed at press preview performance on July 9, 2015