FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Peter Caust, 201-615-0404
Publicity@bcplayers.org
With a book and lyrics by Joel Paley and music by Marvin Laird, Ruthless! tells the story of suburban housewife Judy Denmark and her daughter Tina, who is the greatest song-and-dance sensation to ever hit the third grade. She's cute. She dances. She sings. And she would KILL to get the lead role in her school play. This hysterical and campy musical, which features an all-female cast, traces the story of eight-year old child actress Tina Denmark, her split personality mother Judy, and her stylish but strangely familiar talent agent, Sylvia St. Croix, who has all the charm of Joan Crawford in a daycare center. There’s also more in store with a school teacher who is "no longer afraid to get on with my life and off medication," a theatre critic who channels Ethel Merman and the personal assistant who makes us want to fasten our seatbelts in anticipation of a bumpy night.
It’s a hair-pulling good time, and you will HOWL over this killer musical comedy. In a nutshell, Ruthless! is a twisted story; however, it is this "mutilated" plotline that makes it so original and so laugh-out-loud funny.
The original production opened off-Broadway at the Players Theatre in 1992 and closed after 342 performances. The central role of Tina was played by Laura Bell Bundy, Natalie Portman and Britney Spears. The show won the 1993 New York Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical. The show has had an untold number of professional productions since turning into a cult hit over the past two decades.
Ruthless! is directed by long-time BCP life member Steve Bell of Teaneck, who has directed numerous shows at BCP including Urinetown: The Musical, Gypsy, The King and I, The Little Dog Laughed and Modern Orthodox. He also teaches vocal music at Teaneck High School and is the artistic director of the Teaneck Community Chorus. The music is under the direction of Kerr Lockhart, who was most recently the musical director for the exciting production of Curtains.
The talented cast of Ruthless! includes: Gabriella Baldacchino as Tina, Nancy Feldman as Judy/Ginger, C.G. Lewis as Sylvia St. Croix, Helen Boyadjian as Lita Encore, Paula O’Brien as Myrna/Miss Block and Shiva Kiani as Louise/Eve.
The production team includes Steve Bell (Director), Kerr Lockhart (Musical Director), Lauren Muraski (Choreographer), Lynne Lupfer (Assistant Director), Rhea Smith (Producer), Paul Reitnauer III (Stage Manager), Michael Smith (Set Design/Construction), Ellyn Essig (Décor), Alan Seward (Lighting Design), Joe Halajian (Sound Design), Patty Howard (Costumes), Richard Ciero (Sound Operation), Marty Obolsky (Lighting Operation), Jim Espaillat (Lighting Operation), Barbra Murtha (Props and Crew), Abby Light (Props and Crew), Joanne Guarnaccia (Makeup), Alan Zenreich (Photography) and James Parent (Publicity).
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