Ruthless

Off-Broadway at St. Luke's Theatre

As the saying goes….The key to success is Ruthlessness.  This story has many twists and turns and nobody is quite who they appear to be.  This takes toddlers in tiaras to a whole new level, and it  all combines into a hilarious musical comedy that you won’t want to miss.

8 year old Tina Denmark (Tori Murray) is the talk of the town.  She can sing and dance and is the picture of innocence with her long blonde curls and ribbons. No one knows where Tina’s talent comes from.  Her mother, Judy was adopted and does not know who her real parents were.  The father,  Frederick is ever absent to a point where he is non-existent to everyone.

A knock on the door brings Sylvia St. Croix (played in drag by Peter Land), talent agent into the mix.  When Tina auditions for the school play, and loses out to Louise Lerman (Tracy Jai Edwards), Sylvia convinces the teacher Miss Thorn (Andrea McCullough) to let Tina be the understudy.   When Tina learns how it all works, we see ruthless come out, when she kills the star of the school play, all while making it appear to be a suicide.

The Grandmother, a ruthless theatre critic Lita Encore (Rita McKEnzie) shows up to see Tina take the stage in the school play “Pippi in Tahiti” and  we eventually learn that Judy Denmark’s real mother is former star of the state Ruth DelMarco and the father, Bob Fosse.  Ruth allegedly committed suicide after a bad review by Lita, her adopted mother,  but her body was never found.

Mother Judy Denmark, played by the stunning Kim Maresca is now putting the pieces of the puzzle together.  She figures out her little angel's role in the death of the Lerman girl and turns her in sending her away for a 4 year stint in juvie.

Immediately Judy rediscovers herself and begins to thrive as a star under the name of Ginger DelMarco. She is living the glamorous life in a penthouse apartment with personal assistant, Eve Allabout (Tracy Jai Edwards). Ginger/Judy does not want to hear it, when she finds out that Tina is being released.  Tina returns and soon after Sylvia appears, strips off her wig and identifies herself as Ruth DelMarco, Judy's real mother, and demands custody of the girl Tina. A shootout ensues, and in the end only the ruthless shall survive.

This is a devilishly delightful show, from the fun costumes to the playful and comedic score,  and super talented cast.  It’s hard to believe Tori Murray can store such a set of lungs in her tiny frame, and Maresca was so impressive holding the longest most perfect note I have ever heard on or off Broadway.

For tickets and more information visit http://www.ruthlessthemusical.com/and check out my discount ticket link at http://www.thisbroadsway.com/discount-tickets.html
​-ThisbroadSway 7/9/2015