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A song-studded romp detailing one adorable girl's murder of another for the lead role in a school play, Ruthless! The Musical explores
the sinister glint behind every child star's manufactured smile. Tina
(an awkwardly precocious Alexa Shaheen) kick-starts the labored plot
with her bloody ascent, but this farcical engine really builds steam
when the keening ambitions of all its players amass. Amid weary puns and
cartoon diva stints, the cleverest dialogue is entrenched in the
blinkered worldview of the theatah. The drama-school slam
"INDICATING!"------—an inside joke for theater nerds—drew confused
chuckles from a matinee crowd. But such shameless preaching to the
onstage choir does uncork a certain rapture among performers. Stephanie
Heuston's maternal and disapproving Judy initially appears above the
surrounding silliness, but she eventually assumes her prima donna mantle
as Ginger Del Marco and takes flight alongside her character's soaring
dementia. A bewigged Darius Pierce sucks the marrow from every line as
suspiciously invasive talent agent Sylvia St. Croix, creating an
over-the-top archness equal parts Margo Channing and Dr. Evil.
Alternately captivating and cloying as our young murderess, Shaheen may
seem lacking compared to Laura Bell Bundy's original Tina, but the part
does lend itself to career upswings. Honestly, considering Bundy's 1992
understudies Britney Spears and Natalie Portman, we're more curious
who's waiting in the wings.
SEE IT: Ruthless! The Musical is at Brunish Theatre, 1111 SW Broadway, 248-4335. 7:30 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Saturdays-Sundays through March 8. $30.75-$44.75.
WWeek 2015
