Ruthless!
Ruthless! is a deliciously camp musical that takes turns you can't expect and brilliantly showcases a talented cast. Simply put, it's great fun.
Broadway World UK
Why see Ruthless!?
How far would you go to get what you want?
Joel Paley and Marvin Laird's very dark comedy finally gets a UK premiere, bringing the madcap musical to the Arts Theatre this spring. A gloriously screwball send-up of Broadway classics in the vein of Gypsy and Mame, Ruthless! introduces us to tiny Tina Denmark, a precocious 8-year-old who'll stop at nothing to show off her talents in the school play, even if it means eliminating the competition for good.
Starring Tracie Bennet, Harriet Hope and Jason Gardiner, the high camp show is a hilarious look at the worrying world of child-stardom, pushy stage mothers and the renlentless ambition that carries them. With pizazz filled tunes, kicky dance numbers and a killer script, Ruthless! is the cult classic born to entertain!
Key Information
Audience
10+
Run Time
90 minutes
Dates
Finished 23 Jun 2018
Cast
Tracie Bennett as Lita
Jason Gardiner as Sylvia St. Croix
Harriet Thorpe as Myrna Thorn
Lara Denning as Louise Lerman/Eve
Kim Maresca as Judy Denmark
Charlotte Bree, Lucy Simmonds, Anya Evans, and Fifi Bloomsbury Khier alternate the role of Tina Denmark
Creative
Written by Joel Paley and Marvin Laird
Directed by Richard Fitch
Choreography by Rebecca Howell
Musical supervision by Gareth Valentine
Production design by Morgan Large
Lighting by Tim Lutkin
Sound by Gregory Clarke
Reviews
Customer reviews
1 reviews, average rating: (5.0 Stars)
Cathy Dixon
Ruthless, Impeccable Glamour
Ruthless is a gorgeous musical homage to the highly stylised, ruthless world of mid-1950s
showbiz. The characters mimic the campness, glamour and phony sentimentality of the
time to wonderful and hilarious effect.
Played by a stellar cast, the story centers on how to groom and exploit the precocious
talent of Tina Denmark to make up for the thwarted, suppressed ambitions of her stay at
home martyr mother, her fame-obsessed coach the glorious Sylvia St Croix, and the "seen
better days" drama teacher. Who is the star of the show? Hard to say, all actors
outperform each other brilliantly.
This is a show that has pulled out all the stops from the set design, to the tailored
costumes. The acting and singing were, hammy, as you would expect, yet the delivery,
timing and nuanced gestures to the audience were the real treats reminding us of
decades of Hollywood diva melodrama. Wonderful stuff - get a ticket. ... Read more
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