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music by Marvin Laird, book & lyrics by Joel Paley Reviews RUTHLESS!
MERCILESS! RELENTLESS! HILARIOUS! Good Theater kicked off its sixth season Thursday
with the apropos Ruthless! The Musical! The farcical satire is a
brilliant sendup of the pitfalls of stardom. And, it’s mercilessly funny. RUTHLESS!,
SHOWCASES GOOD THEATER’S STRENGTHS The nature/nurture theatricals turn lethal and delectably tongue-in-cheek in the Good Theater’s season opener, Ruthless!, a musical lampoon that amalgamates the pathologies of The Bad Seed, Gypsy, All About Eve, The Women, and Valley of the Dolls. We’re talking moms, daughters, strangulation, and all kinds of nasty ego transference. Brian P. Allen directs five of the area’s nimblest and most virtuoso women — plus the statuesque Stephen Underwood in drag — in a sly, sonorous send-up of talent, its sources, and its menace. These kooky women propel quite a romp, and Allen has slipped superlative local actors into luscious character roles: Relish the formidably savvy Denise Poirier, both as jaded theater-aspirant-turned-third-grade-teacher Myrna Thorn, and as Miss Block, the butch, yellow-pant-suited reporter from the New York Thesbian (sic!). Savor Amy Roche, whose versatility and deadpan wit are always dazzling, as Tina’s young rival Louise and as the psychopathic personal assistant Eve. A fan of Stephen Underwood’s every lanky, droll incarnation, I delighted in his devilish and wild-eyed Sylvia more than I can possibly make clear. And I have a soft spot for any show that sends up the theater critic; this one casts the shrewd and exuberant Cathy Counts as Lita Encore, Judy’s adopted mother, who comes to town to review Tina’s Pippi. In young Haley Bennett, who at 15 has already appeared on an impressive number of local stages, we have the pleasure of watching one of the next generation’s substantial musical stage talents. Bennett has a magnificent voice, a fine fluidity between song and character, and a great handle on the ingénue's characteristic disingenuousness — especially toward her mom. And the dulcet Caufield, taking aggro-passivity to the brink and then exploding it, is electric over a hell of a character arc. Her Judy is exquisite satire, amplified but always nuanced. Watch her horror as she registers all the unsavory revelations, and pay close attention as the first act wraps up, when Judy suddenly finds her inner diva. This transformation manifests a dramatic second-act overhaul, both scenically (to Janet Montgomery and Stephen Underwood’s very modernist, very orange penthouse with a view) and sartorially (to Joan McMahon’s silvery pants, Asian white leopard print, black feather boa, and platinum wig). Caufield is absolutely incandescent, throughout. The whole cast pitches the campily lurid tenor of Ruthless! perfectly, and even Jamie Grant’s lighting — rising rosily for particularly ego-lush numbers — is tone-true to the industry’s fairy-tale narcissism. Good Theater’s Ruthless! is not just a sharp, wry and eye-pleasing hoot of a show, but one that’s absolutely dripping in, yes, talent. So much so that if I didn’t like it so much, I would be very afraid. Cast & Crew Director
- Brian P. Allen |
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