Ruthless!

Infobox Musical
name= Ruthless! The Musical


caption=Los Angeles Cast Recording
music= Marvin Laird
lyrics= Joel Paley
book= Joel Paley
basis=
productions= 1992 Off-Broadway
1993 Los Angeles
awards=

"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 debuted off-Broadway on March 13 1992 and closed January 24, 1993 after 342 performances. It was directed by Joel Paley and the musical director was 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, but her understudies became even more famous: Britney Spears and Natalie Portman.

"Ruthless! The Musical" was then produced in Los Angeles at the Cannon Theatre where it opened on November 15, 1993. ["Daily Variety", Tom Jacobs, December 3, 1993] A recording was made by the 1993 Los Angeles cast on Varese Sarabande and released March 29, 1994. The show won the 1993 New York Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical and has enjoyed a number of professional productions, particularly in regional theatre.

ynopsis

;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. Lita Encore, Judy's adoptive mother (and Tina's grandmother) is a tart-tongued theatre critic who "hates musicals." She 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 - of course - 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, in a struggle, shoots and kills the reporter. In a series of ruthlessly self-serving gunshots, Eve, Sylvia, and finally Ginger/Judy are shot dead, and Tina declares, gun in hand, that there's no money in Broadway and that she's moving to Hollywood to get a series.

Characters and original cast

*"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.
*"Note: Britney Spears and Natalie Portman understudied the role of Tina in the original New York production."
**"Laura Bell Bundy was succeeded in the original New York Production by Britney Spears and then Lindsay Ridgeway."
**"Lindsay Ridgeway was succeeded in the original Los Angeles production by Kathryn Zaremba."

ongs

;Act I
* Prologue
* Tina's Mother
* Born To Entertain
* Talent
* To Play This Part
* Teaching Third Grade
* Where Tina Gets It From
* The Pippi Song
* Kisses And Hugs
* Teaching Third Grade (Reprise)
* Talent (Reprise #1)
* I Hate Musicals
* Angel Mom ;Act II
* Entr'acte/Montage
* A Penthouse Apartment
* It Will Never Be That Way Again
* I Want the Girl
* Parents And Children
* Ruthless!
* Talent (Reprise #2)
* Ruthless! (Reprise)
* Unkie's Muncle (performed by Bernadette Peters and used as a recording in the production)(Based on the 1994 Los Angeles cast recording)

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)

References

* [http://www.rationalmagic.com/Bursting/Ruthless.html Plot summary, cast list and other information about "Ruthless!"]

External links

* [http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&title=Ruthless%21 Ruthless! at Lortel Database]
* [http://www.nodanw.com/shows_r/ruthless.htm Song Information at NODA site]
* [http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?_r=1&res=9E0CE2D8153AF934A25756C0A964958260&oref=slogin "New York Times" review, May 17, 1992]
* [http://www.talkinbroadway.com/rialto/past/2003/6_24_03.html An interview with Laird and Paley, talkinbroadway.com circa July 2003]
* [http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?pagewanted=print&res=9E0CE2DC123AF930A25756C0A964958260 Another Times review, May 13, 1992]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4179/is_20020926/ai_n11784863 "Topeka Capital-Journal" review with a discussion of the antecedents to "Ruthless!"]