Ruthless! The Musical

Winter Park Playhouse, Winter Park, Florida

Directed by Roy Alan

Starring Kevin Kelly, Rebecca Fisher, Paisley Rayle

Review by Carl F. Gauze

There are stage moms, and then the are stage moms from hell. Meet Sylvia St. Croix (Kelly). He drags us into the staid and prim house of Judy Denmark (Fisher). Judy keeps a house so clean I’m embarrassed to sit in the back row. Her daughter Tina (Paisley Rayle) is just a stand-in for the school play until Sylvia arrives. Sylvia hijacks the entire show, seducing Tina into the dark underbelly of musical theater. That’s where stardom is everything and stand-ins are sent to sleep on benches in the park after the bows. This is were the Tony award is the Superbowl of musical theater, and you need that first Tony by 21, or you might as well go back to Bithlo.

This is one of the most brutally funny looks at the musical theater world ever produced. Kelly is almost seductive in his long dress, long long hair, and even longer monologues. He steals the show, and won’t give it back even after the audience goes home. Becky Fisher plays the perfect mom, and in this performance she’s perfectly poised from toenails to hair helmet. The “Best Stage Mom” award goes to her.

Ruthless can out entertain Ghostbusters, King Kong, and Frodo on Mount Doom all at once. In other words, it’s one dang funny theatrical insider gag fest. It does help a bit of you know the cattiness of the musical theater set, but even it you don’t, there’s plenty of Kung Fu fighting to entertain.

www.winterparkplayhouse.org