| RUTHLESS! Directed by Robert Case Musical Direction by Abigail Cordell Choreography by Annita-Marie Brockney JUNE 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 2008 at 8PM & JUNE 8, 2008 at 2PM Cambridge Family YMCA Theatre Central Square, Cambridge Tickets may be purchased online through our online ticketing center or by calling (617) 524-5013. |
Ruthless!
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
METRO STAGE COMPANY
Cast & Staff
Reviews
Press
Releases
Photos
Community
Outreach
Directions,
Parking, &
Accessibility
Reviews
Press
Releases
Photos
Community
Outreach
Directions,
Parking, &
Accessibility
| Books and Lyrics by Joal Paley. Music by Marvin Laird. Produced Off Broadway in New York City by Kim Lang Lenny, Wolfgang Rocksch & Jim Lenny |
Suburban housewife Judy Denmark is dull as dull can be, but her daughter, Tina, 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 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.
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 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 "no longer afraid to get on with my life and off medication," a theater critic who
channels Ethel Merman, and the personal assistant who makes us want to fasten our seatbelts in anticipation of a bumpy night.
CAST
TRACY NYGARD (Judy Denmark)
JAIME STEINBACH (Myrna Thorn / Miss Block)
KATHERINE REYNOLDS (Louise Lerman / Eve)
HANNAH FORSLEY (Tina Denmark)
MARY O'DONNELL (Lita Encore)
CHRISTOPHER HAGBERG (Sylvia St. Croix)
It's a hair-pulling good time, and you will HOWL over this killer musical comedy!
In a nutshell, Ruthless! The Musical is a twisted story; however, it is this "mutilated" plotline that makes it original and so
laugh-out-loud funny.
Come join Metro Stage Company for a raucous night of murder, campy fun, and the stage mother of all musicals!
In a nutshell, Ruthless! The Musical is a twisted story; however, it is this "mutilated" plotline that makes it original and so
laugh-out-loud funny.
Come join Metro Stage Company for a raucous night of murder, campy fun, and the stage mother of all musicals!
REVIEWS
Ruthless! The Musical
by Kay Bourne
EDGE Boston
Low priced tickets are only the initial benefit from scouting out what’s on stage in Boston’s Off Off Broadway or fringe theater scene. Well worth
discovering but with only a few nights remaining of its six performance run is Metro Stage Company’s polished and gleeful production of the
campy spoof Ruthless! The Musical complete with an excellent 4-piece orchestra stashed away in the balcony.
With book and lyric by Joal Paley and music from Marvin Laird, the winner of the 1993 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway
musical was a hit for Boston’s Speakeasy Stage six years ago. The production boasted Kathy St. George as the amnesia stricken mom of a
daughter convinced she deserves stardom; Kristin Parker as her murderous tot; and Will McGarranhan as agent/manager Sylvia St. Croix
(written as a drag role) who has taken an inordinate interest in helping get this little girl’s name up in lights.
"Ruthless!..." started out as a skit Joal Paley wrote when he was a member of "Les Ballets Trockdero de Monte Carlo" which he later developed
into a full blown parody of "The Bad Seed." He added a second act parodying eight other favorite movies as well including "All About Eve." His
partner Marvin Laird wrote the music.
This merry jab in the eye to actors who are myopic about their talent and personally ambitious to a fault continues through June 14 in the
attractive second floor, 185-seat Victorian-era theater at the Cambridge Family YMCA, 820 Mass. Ave. in Central Square.
The MSC production easily rivals the delicious Speakeasy show, which was extended for weeks because it was such a pleaser.
The bland Judy Denmark, who would be up for a Good Housekeeper Award if they gave them, is at a loss to explain why her daughter, Tina, all
bouncy Shirley Temple curls and heartless gamin smile, has a theatrical bent. "It’s not in the blood," ponders Mrs. Denmark, the adopted
daughter of a theater critic. How very mistaken Judy is about blood lines becomes all too clear as the story progresses.
We first meet the little terror as she’s showing off her newly learned tap dancing skills to her mom and a talent agent, Sylvia St. Croix, who
wants to represent the precocious child. She does seem to be the show off of the family. Yet there’s more theatrics than meets the eye to Mrs.
Denmark who answers the phone pirouetting like Loretta Young entering her TV show, her big, big skirt with crinoline petticoat awhirl.
Kimmerie H.O. Jones’s costumes are perfection throughout.
With apt direction from Robert Case who has a very balanced hand in giving each of these oddball characters their turn to shine, Tracy Nygard
as a memorable Mrs. Denmark, exalts at every twist in the plot in a progression from drudge to diva. At one point she finds a new lease on life
mid-song! The stay-at-home mom destined for the Great White Way becomes the pivotal and most interesting figure in this wild-side version of
"A Star Is Born" even though she’s surrounded by actors ready to take the show away from her at every turn. Vying for attention all the way is the
malignant spawn of this grotesque royal family of the theater, third grader Tina, sardonically portrayed with a sweetness and light that is
patently false by the remarkable child actor Hannah Forsley.
Christopher J. Hagberg is, may I say, very cute as the droll Sylvia St. Croix whose extravagant interest in this suburban family bears watching. A
gem of the show is when the fetching Sylvia catches a song on the radio, "My Unkie’s Muncle" (sung by Bernadette Peters) which causes her to
break into a nifty little dance around the Denmark living room. Hagberg has his own costume designer as befits the personable sophisticate;
Mark Frederics-Cabrera has dressed Hagberg in eyecatching outfits with Chuck Tuttle doing her wigs.
The supporting roles are lots of fun as well. Mary O’Donnell as Lita Encore, the vitriolic theater critic and Judy’s adoptive mother, has only one
song, "I Hate Musicals," which she carries off with flare. Like much of the cast, O’Donnell has a glorious voice and is conservatory trained.
(Musical direction from Abigail Cordell has given the entire production a really professional sheen.) Katherine Reynolds is fine as little Louise
who gets the lead role in the school production, a part that will bring her grief, and she does well when she appears in the second act as Eve
where revenge is the order of the day.
Jaime Steinbach as the worn to a frazzle third grade teacher is a hoot, and she plays double duty by appearing in the second act as a reporter
hot to interview the reclusive Judy Denmark, now ensconced in a penthouse apartment.
It’s not that often in a show that the lighting gets well earned laughs but thanks to John MacKenzie those moments are perfect. Choreography
from Annita-Marie Brockney, which is nicely integrated into the story-line, is sprightly and well matched to the characters dancing the bits.
A young company, Metro Stage Company, established in 2004, produces two full-scale musicals a year with the idea of offering top flight
entertainment and raising awareness for local charities. Most recently the group did a fundraiser for AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts.
So far, so very, very good. With "Ruthless!..." you get an awful lot of show for its miniscule little budget.
by Kay Bourne
EDGE Boston
Low priced tickets are only the initial benefit from scouting out what’s on stage in Boston’s Off Off Broadway or fringe theater scene. Well worth
discovering but with only a few nights remaining of its six performance run is Metro Stage Company’s polished and gleeful production of the
campy spoof Ruthless! The Musical complete with an excellent 4-piece orchestra stashed away in the balcony.
With book and lyric by Joal Paley and music from Marvin Laird, the winner of the 1993 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway
musical was a hit for Boston’s Speakeasy Stage six years ago. The production boasted Kathy St. George as the amnesia stricken mom of a
daughter convinced she deserves stardom; Kristin Parker as her murderous tot; and Will McGarranhan as agent/manager Sylvia St. Croix
(written as a drag role) who has taken an inordinate interest in helping get this little girl’s name up in lights.
"Ruthless!..." started out as a skit Joal Paley wrote when he was a member of "Les Ballets Trockdero de Monte Carlo" which he later developed
into a full blown parody of "The Bad Seed." He added a second act parodying eight other favorite movies as well including "All About Eve." His
partner Marvin Laird wrote the music.
This merry jab in the eye to actors who are myopic about their talent and personally ambitious to a fault continues through June 14 in the
attractive second floor, 185-seat Victorian-era theater at the Cambridge Family YMCA, 820 Mass. Ave. in Central Square.
The MSC production easily rivals the delicious Speakeasy show, which was extended for weeks because it was such a pleaser.
The bland Judy Denmark, who would be up for a Good Housekeeper Award if they gave them, is at a loss to explain why her daughter, Tina, all
bouncy Shirley Temple curls and heartless gamin smile, has a theatrical bent. "It’s not in the blood," ponders Mrs. Denmark, the adopted
daughter of a theater critic. How very mistaken Judy is about blood lines becomes all too clear as the story progresses.
We first meet the little terror as she’s showing off her newly learned tap dancing skills to her mom and a talent agent, Sylvia St. Croix, who
wants to represent the precocious child. She does seem to be the show off of the family. Yet there’s more theatrics than meets the eye to Mrs.
Denmark who answers the phone pirouetting like Loretta Young entering her TV show, her big, big skirt with crinoline petticoat awhirl.
Kimmerie H.O. Jones’s costumes are perfection throughout.
With apt direction from Robert Case who has a very balanced hand in giving each of these oddball characters their turn to shine, Tracy Nygard
as a memorable Mrs. Denmark, exalts at every twist in the plot in a progression from drudge to diva. At one point she finds a new lease on life
mid-song! The stay-at-home mom destined for the Great White Way becomes the pivotal and most interesting figure in this wild-side version of
"A Star Is Born" even though she’s surrounded by actors ready to take the show away from her at every turn. Vying for attention all the way is the
malignant spawn of this grotesque royal family of the theater, third grader Tina, sardonically portrayed with a sweetness and light that is
patently false by the remarkable child actor Hannah Forsley.
Christopher J. Hagberg is, may I say, very cute as the droll Sylvia St. Croix whose extravagant interest in this suburban family bears watching. A
gem of the show is when the fetching Sylvia catches a song on the radio, "My Unkie’s Muncle" (sung by Bernadette Peters) which causes her to
break into a nifty little dance around the Denmark living room. Hagberg has his own costume designer as befits the personable sophisticate;
Mark Frederics-Cabrera has dressed Hagberg in eyecatching outfits with Chuck Tuttle doing her wigs.
The supporting roles are lots of fun as well. Mary O’Donnell as Lita Encore, the vitriolic theater critic and Judy’s adoptive mother, has only one
song, "I Hate Musicals," which she carries off with flare. Like much of the cast, O’Donnell has a glorious voice and is conservatory trained.
(Musical direction from Abigail Cordell has given the entire production a really professional sheen.) Katherine Reynolds is fine as little Louise
who gets the lead role in the school production, a part that will bring her grief, and she does well when she appears in the second act as Eve
where revenge is the order of the day.
Jaime Steinbach as the worn to a frazzle third grade teacher is a hoot, and she plays double duty by appearing in the second act as a reporter
hot to interview the reclusive Judy Denmark, now ensconced in a penthouse apartment.
It’s not that often in a show that the lighting gets well earned laughs but thanks to John MacKenzie those moments are perfect. Choreography
from Annita-Marie Brockney, which is nicely integrated into the story-line, is sprightly and well matched to the characters dancing the bits.
A young company, Metro Stage Company, established in 2004, produces two full-scale musicals a year with the idea of offering top flight
entertainment and raising awareness for local charities. Most recently the group did a fundraiser for AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts.
So far, so very, very good. With "Ruthless!..." you get an awful lot of show for its miniscule little budget.
Metro Stage Company’s Ruthless a Riot
Robin Chamberlain, NEED (New England Entertainment Digest)
In a continuing effort to bring Boston newer, edgier, more thought-provoking and less traditional musical material, Metro Stage Company’s
newest offering, Ruthless! The Musical, is a fabulous flamboyant trip through every “bad girl in showbiz” movie and metaphor. Think “The Bad
Seed” meets “All About Eve” meets Mama Rose and you’ve got Ruthless. The biting, bitchy, and hysterical script and score are loaded with
references and double-entendres that will leave musical and B-Movie buffs rolling in the aisles, but may leave those without those interests
feeling like they missed something. Still, there are enough other non-“insider” comic moments to satisfy everyone. Pay close, I mean close
attention to every word- this script has more plot twists, turns, and about-faces than a Telemundo soap opera.
Director Rob Case does a marvelous job with the small cast who winningly portray the deliberately stereotyped roles-Amazonian talent agent,
talented tyke, suburban housewife deluxe, and more. Kudos to the entire cast: Tracy Nygard, deliciously over-the-top in dual roles as Judy
Denmark-Stepford wife supreme, and Ginger DelMarco, Broadway’s latest musical sensation, plays both with equally fabulous and amusing
results. Hannah Forsley is amazing as little Tina Denmark, the starlet wanna-be who is willing to do anything….anything to get (imagine a
sinister chord playing as you hear the phrase)…the lead. She taps, sings, and mugs her way through the night as the perfect disingenuous
ingénue. Christopher J. Hagberg winningly portrays Sylvia St. Croix, overbearing talent manager with the most…the most hair, the most jewelry,
the most amazing drag wardrobe (compliments of Mr. Hagberg’s costumer Mark Frederics-Cabrera)…..you get it. You stop holding your breath
hoping he won’t fall in 6-inch heels after about first 30 seconds after his/her entrance, because he does a better job of it than most women.
Mary O’Donnell plays Mother/critic Lita Encore and her rendition of “I Hate Musicals” is a show-stopper. The cast is rounded out by Jaime
Steinbach in comic turns as Miss Thorne, frustrated third-grade teacher and Miss Block, a reporter from Modern Thespian and Katherine
Reynolds as Tina’s third grade classmate and school-play rival Louis Lerman, and Ginger DeMarco’s aspiring assistant, the aptly-named Eve.
Congrats are also in order to all of the theatrical elements that helped bring the production to life – Kimmerie H.O. Jones’ era-evocative
costumes, Abigail Cordell’s music direction and orchestra, John MacKenzie’s lighting, including simple but effective Ed-Wood-esque lighting
moments, Annita-Marie Brockney’s choreography and a straightforward set that ably managed to work as two distinct venues.
Each Metro production increasingly proves that there is room for this little company and its now almost stock company of talented regulars in
the Boston theater scene. Pay attention.
Robin Chamberlain, NEED (New England Entertainment Digest)
In a continuing effort to bring Boston newer, edgier, more thought-provoking and less traditional musical material, Metro Stage Company’s
newest offering, Ruthless! The Musical, is a fabulous flamboyant trip through every “bad girl in showbiz” movie and metaphor. Think “The Bad
Seed” meets “All About Eve” meets Mama Rose and you’ve got Ruthless. The biting, bitchy, and hysterical script and score are loaded with
references and double-entendres that will leave musical and B-Movie buffs rolling in the aisles, but may leave those without those interests
feeling like they missed something. Still, there are enough other non-“insider” comic moments to satisfy everyone. Pay close, I mean close
attention to every word- this script has more plot twists, turns, and about-faces than a Telemundo soap opera.
Director Rob Case does a marvelous job with the small cast who winningly portray the deliberately stereotyped roles-Amazonian talent agent,
talented tyke, suburban housewife deluxe, and more. Kudos to the entire cast: Tracy Nygard, deliciously over-the-top in dual roles as Judy
Denmark-Stepford wife supreme, and Ginger DelMarco, Broadway’s latest musical sensation, plays both with equally fabulous and amusing
results. Hannah Forsley is amazing as little Tina Denmark, the starlet wanna-be who is willing to do anything….anything to get (imagine a
sinister chord playing as you hear the phrase)…the lead. She taps, sings, and mugs her way through the night as the perfect disingenuous
ingénue. Christopher J. Hagberg winningly portrays Sylvia St. Croix, overbearing talent manager with the most…the most hair, the most jewelry,
the most amazing drag wardrobe (compliments of Mr. Hagberg’s costumer Mark Frederics-Cabrera)…..you get it. You stop holding your breath
hoping he won’t fall in 6-inch heels after about first 30 seconds after his/her entrance, because he does a better job of it than most women.
Mary O’Donnell plays Mother/critic Lita Encore and her rendition of “I Hate Musicals” is a show-stopper. The cast is rounded out by Jaime
Steinbach in comic turns as Miss Thorne, frustrated third-grade teacher and Miss Block, a reporter from Modern Thespian and Katherine
Reynolds as Tina’s third grade classmate and school-play rival Louis Lerman, and Ginger DeMarco’s aspiring assistant, the aptly-named Eve.
Congrats are also in order to all of the theatrical elements that helped bring the production to life – Kimmerie H.O. Jones’ era-evocative
costumes, Abigail Cordell’s music direction and orchestra, John MacKenzie’s lighting, including simple but effective Ed-Wood-esque lighting
moments, Annita-Marie Brockney’s choreography and a straightforward set that ably managed to work as two distinct venues.
Each Metro production increasingly proves that there is room for this little company and its now almost stock company of talented regulars in
the Boston theater scene. Pay attention.
Outrageous Genes at METRO
by Beverly Creasey, TheaterMirror.com
Scientists postulate that an aberrant chromosome (XYY) is present in the genome of serial killers—so the idea of a BAD SEED (Remember
the old movie?) isn’t so far fetched after all. What is far fetched---and now fetching raves all over the place---is Joal Paley’s idea of turning that
schlocky movie into a musical. With wacky songs by Paley and Marvin Laird, RUTHLESS has elbowed its way across the country, landing for
now in Cambridge at Metro Stage (through June 14th).
When actors say they’d kill for a part, they don’t really mean it but that’s exactly what a pint sized, third grade piranha does to get the coveted
role of Pippi Longstocking. RUTHLESS manages to send up a slew of movies and musicals, from GYPSY to ALL ABOUT EVE to A CHORUS
LINE and more---but clever director Robert Case even includes SUNSET BOULEVARD, with Tracy Nygard decompensating in grand style, eyes
wide open like Gloria Swanson ready for her famous close-up.
Nygard again proves that she’s brilliant at naughty stage business, when Ginger discovers that show biz is in her blood. She literally fights the
urge to perform, her whole body battling hilariously against her will. And Nygard can bring down the house, too, with a sensational number like
“It Can Never Be That Way Again.” (Music director Abigail Cordell gets wonderful singing from everyone.)
If ever a show was made for scenery chewing, it’s RUTHLESS. Case has so many fabulous scene stealers in the cast, it’s a wonder there’s
any set left. Christopher Hagberg is the cat’s meow as a Mama Rose with thorns. He can balance on six-inch heels, wear diamonds with more
panache than Elizabeth Taylor and he merely quivers his lower lip (at the mention of Mary Kay) to send us into convulsions. (Kudos to Mark
Frederics-Cabrera for Hagberg’s glittering wardrobe.)
Petite dynamo Hannah Forsley stops the show with her ruthless, unending entertaining—and spot on tap dancing (choreographed by Annita-
Marie Brockney). Mary O’Donnell is joyously over the top as the spitfire theater critic (in Kimmerie H. O. Jones’ divine costumes) who cannot
resist giving everyone, including her own granddaughter, a bad review---and she gets to sing the delicious “I Hate Musicals.”
Jaime Steinbach has two nifty turns, one as a sleazy reporter and the other as a harried third grade teacher who gets to deliver an adorable
song about hating children. (What show does that remind you of?) Likewise Katherine Reynolds gives her all as the doomed Pippi in Act I and
the scheming personal assistant in Act II who’s waiting in the wings to go on “as soon as Ginger snaps.” From that groaner, you can deduce
the tenor of the dialogue. RUTHLESS is high camp and with so many divas hogging John MacKenzie’s spotlight, you know there will be plenty
of laughs.
by Beverly Creasey, TheaterMirror.com
Scientists postulate that an aberrant chromosome (XYY) is present in the genome of serial killers—so the idea of a BAD SEED (Remember
the old movie?) isn’t so far fetched after all. What is far fetched---and now fetching raves all over the place---is Joal Paley’s idea of turning that
schlocky movie into a musical. With wacky songs by Paley and Marvin Laird, RUTHLESS has elbowed its way across the country, landing for
now in Cambridge at Metro Stage (through June 14th).
When actors say they’d kill for a part, they don’t really mean it but that’s exactly what a pint sized, third grade piranha does to get the coveted
role of Pippi Longstocking. RUTHLESS manages to send up a slew of movies and musicals, from GYPSY to ALL ABOUT EVE to A CHORUS
LINE and more---but clever director Robert Case even includes SUNSET BOULEVARD, with Tracy Nygard decompensating in grand style, eyes
wide open like Gloria Swanson ready for her famous close-up.
Nygard again proves that she’s brilliant at naughty stage business, when Ginger discovers that show biz is in her blood. She literally fights the
urge to perform, her whole body battling hilariously against her will. And Nygard can bring down the house, too, with a sensational number like
“It Can Never Be That Way Again.” (Music director Abigail Cordell gets wonderful singing from everyone.)
If ever a show was made for scenery chewing, it’s RUTHLESS. Case has so many fabulous scene stealers in the cast, it’s a wonder there’s
any set left. Christopher Hagberg is the cat’s meow as a Mama Rose with thorns. He can balance on six-inch heels, wear diamonds with more
panache than Elizabeth Taylor and he merely quivers his lower lip (at the mention of Mary Kay) to send us into convulsions. (Kudos to Mark
Frederics-Cabrera for Hagberg’s glittering wardrobe.)
Petite dynamo Hannah Forsley stops the show with her ruthless, unending entertaining—and spot on tap dancing (choreographed by Annita-
Marie Brockney). Mary O’Donnell is joyously over the top as the spitfire theater critic (in Kimmerie H. O. Jones’ divine costumes) who cannot
resist giving everyone, including her own granddaughter, a bad review---and she gets to sing the delicious “I Hate Musicals.”
Jaime Steinbach has two nifty turns, one as a sleazy reporter and the other as a harried third grade teacher who gets to deliver an adorable
song about hating children. (What show does that remind you of?) Likewise Katherine Reynolds gives her all as the doomed Pippi in Act I and
the scheming personal assistant in Act II who’s waiting in the wings to go on “as soon as Ginger snaps.” From that groaner, you can deduce
the tenor of the dialogue. RUTHLESS is high camp and with so many divas hogging John MacKenzie’s spotlight, you know there will be plenty
of laughs.
Best of New England Theater 2008
Dec.29,2008
From a touring production of "Rent" in January to Judy Gold’s "Mommie Queerest" this weekend, EDGE has
reviewed some 160 shows in the New England area over the past year. Here are what four of our critics - Kay
Bourne, Jennifer Bubriski, Kilian Melloy and Robert Nesti - thought were amongst the best.
Ruthless! The Musical
Some of the best musical productions of the past year took place on the second floor of the Cambridge YMCA in
Central Square, such as the Joal Paley and Marvin Laird show biz send-up "Ruthless! The Musical!, " presented
by Metro Stage Company. The merry jab to the eye to actors (myopic about their talent and personally ambitious
to a fault) got a delicious, polished and gleeful production aptly directed by Robert Case who gave each of the
odd ball characters their turn to shine. There was a fine 4-piece orchestra stashed in the balcony of the 185-
seat Victorian era theater under the musical direction of Abigail Cordell. Tracy Nygard as Judy Denmark exalted
at every twist in the plot that follows her progression from drudge to diva. And she was surrounded by actors
ready to take the show away from her given the teeniest moment of opportunity, from Christopher J. Hagberg as
the droll Sylvia St. Croix to the malignant spawn of this grotesque royal family of the theater, little Tina,
sardonically portrayed with by the remarkable child actress Hannah Forsley. Also worth mentioning is the
company’s production of "Company," the Stephen Sondheim/George Furth musical about urban relationships.
The work of this company proves you can have a great show without the spectacular trimmings of Broadway
when it is in the hands of passionate and able artists. Kay Bourne
Dec.29,2008
From a touring production of "Rent" in January to Judy Gold’s "Mommie Queerest" this weekend, EDGE has
reviewed some 160 shows in the New England area over the past year. Here are what four of our critics - Kay
Bourne, Jennifer Bubriski, Kilian Melloy and Robert Nesti - thought were amongst the best.
Ruthless! The Musical
Some of the best musical productions of the past year took place on the second floor of the Cambridge YMCA in
Central Square, such as the Joal Paley and Marvin Laird show biz send-up "Ruthless! The Musical!, " presented
by Metro Stage Company. The merry jab to the eye to actors (myopic about their talent and personally ambitious
to a fault) got a delicious, polished and gleeful production aptly directed by Robert Case who gave each of the
odd ball characters their turn to shine. There was a fine 4-piece orchestra stashed in the balcony of the 185-
seat Victorian era theater under the musical direction of Abigail Cordell. Tracy Nygard as Judy Denmark exalted
at every twist in the plot that follows her progression from drudge to diva. And she was surrounded by actors
ready to take the show away from her given the teeniest moment of opportunity, from Christopher J. Hagberg as
the droll Sylvia St. Croix to the malignant spawn of this grotesque royal family of the theater, little Tina,
sardonically portrayed with by the remarkable child actress Hannah Forsley. Also worth mentioning is the
company’s production of "Company," the Stephen Sondheim/George Furth musical about urban relationships.
The work of this company proves you can have a great show without the spectacular trimmings of Broadway
when it is in the hands of passionate and able artists. Kay Bourne