Joel Paley News

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What do you get when you mix aspects of GYPSY, THE BAD SEED, and ALL ABOUT EVE with a heavy dose of camp and a soupçon of soap opera? RUTHLESS! THE MUSICAL, an all-female homage to overly-ambitious child actors, sleazy agents, poison pen critics, and jealous understudies that is a star vehicle for a little girl with stars in her eyes. In its second season on the Boston theater scene, Theater UnCorked takes a first crack at musical comedy and, even as it hits a few bumps along the way, it hits the funny bone again and again.

RUTHLESS! THE MUSICAL originally opened Off-Broadway in 1992, created as an over-the-top dark comedy spoof of the films The Bad Seed and All About Eve, and well-known Broadway musicals Gypsy and Annie. Similar to the dark comedy in musicals such as Little Shop of Horrors and Sweeney Todd where characters are murdered and then eaten, RUTHLESS! THE MUSICAL centers on 8-year old Tina Denmark, who knows she was born to play the lead in her school's third grade show and will do anything to win the part. And I do mean anything. Now onstage at Theatre Palisades, directed by Alta Abbott who first fell in love with the show during its 1993 West Coast premiere at the Canon Theatre in Beverly Hills, I can only say that the over-the-top production sometimes seemed so dark that the comedy became invisible.

Theatre Palisades brings some fun to the upcoming holiday season by presenting 'Ruthless! The Musical' a hilarious musical comedy spoof with book and lyrics by Joel Paley and music by Marvin Laird. Opening Friday November 1, through Sunday December 8, 2019 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 P.M. and Sundays at 2:00 P.M. at the Pierson Playhouse, located at 941 Temescal Canyon Dr. (just south of Sunset Blvd.) in Pacific Palisades 90272.

Things are about to get a little 'RUTHLESS' at Theater UnCorked with their production of Joel Paley and Marvin Laird's RUTHLESS! The Musical!

Ruthless! The Musical will play at Theatre Memphis on Nov. 8-23.

Mother doesn't always know best as we see from the latest hit theater production to come to BroadwayHD.  The 2018 West End production of the award-winning, darkly funny hit, Ruthless! The Musical, will be arriving exclusively on BroadwayHD, the premier streaming service for live theater, on February 14th. The show stars  Jason Gardiner (Dancing on Ice), Tony-nominated, Two-Time Olivier Winner, Best Actress Tracie Bennett (End of the Rainbow) and Kim Maresca (Ruthless! The Musical, Off-Broadway), who deliver a fun and engrossing performance that will appeal to a new generation of viewers. The 2018 production of Marvin Laird and Joel Paley's smartly written and lyrically funny Ruthless! The Musical is directed by Richard Fitch and choreographed by Rebecca Howell, with music supervision by Gareth Valentine. As part of this twisty tale about a mother and daughter, the cult classic features spoofs of Broadway shows turned into iconic films such as The Bad Seed,  Gypsy and The Women, as well as Hollywood's most famous iconic film, All About Eve later turned into the Broadway musicalApplause. It was originally performed 27 years ago in an off-Broadway production, and the 2018 West End production was updated with  today's audience in mind.

Heathers, the off-Broadway musical by Laurence O'Keefe and Kevin Murphy based on the 1989 cult classic film of the same name, wraps up its sold-out run today at Murfreesboro's Center for the Arts, offering audiences an outrageously fun and on-target treatise on mean girls and caught up in the gravitational pull of their starpower at a fictional Ohio high school.

Talent. Where does it come from? Is it something passed down from generation to generation? Or is it something more?

Talent. Where does it come from? Is it something passed down from generation to generation? Or is it something more?

RUTHLESS! is a musical spoof of show business with music by Marvin Laird and book and lyrics by Joel Paley that not only spoofs Broadway musicals, but is also a satire of non-musical movies about showbiz such as All About Eve. The musical premiered Off-Broadway in 1992. The show won the 1993 New York Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical.

The summer forecast calls for wild fun, over the top laughs, and "take no prisoners" comedy…and it's all thanks to the mother and daughter, song and dance, team of Tina and Judy Denmark. In June, The City Theatre Company is thrilled to present the award-winning, off-Broadway triumph Ruthless! The Musical, where no dream too big - or back too small to stab - can stop you from becoming a star.

Ruthless! the Musical is a delightfully irreverent piece that cleverly makes fun of 'show business' now playing at the Arts Theatre. The cast is full of talented comedic actresses and the role of Tina is a great showcase for a young girl. While not necessarily one for the family, it's certainly a great show for a fun night out.

The Musical on Stage at the Arts Theatre in London is having its Press Night tonight and BroadwayWorld has an exclusive look below!

We've got a first look at Ruthless! The Musical on Stage at the Arts Theatre in London where the show runs through 23 June, 2018. 

Fifi Bloomsbury Khier, Charlotte Breen, Anya Evans and Lucy Simmonds alternate in the central role of Tina Denmark in Joel Paley and Marvin Laird's award-winning all female character camp killer cult classic Ruthless! The Musical. They join Jason Gardiner, Lara Denning, Kim Maresca, Harriet Thorpe and Tracie Bennett, completing the full company ahead of it's strictly limited 14 week run at the Arts Theatre.

Fifi Bloomsbury Khier, Charlotte Breen, Anya Evans and Lucy Simmonds alternate in the central role of Tina Denmark in Joel Paley and Marvin Laird's award-winning all female character camp killer cult classic Ruthless! The Musical. They join Jason Gardiner, Lara Denning, Kim Maresca, Harriet Thorpe and Tracie Bennett, completing the full company ahead of it's strictly limited 14 week run at the Arts Theatre.

Jason Gardiner, Lara Denning, Kim Maresca, Harriet Thorpe and Tracie Bennett join the company of Joel Paley and Marvin Laird's award-winning all female character camp killer cult classic Ruthless! The Musical for its strictly limited 14 week run at the Arts Theatre. The children alternating the role of Tina Denmark will be announced shortly.

Joel Paley and Marvin Laird's award-winning all female character camp killer cult classic Ruthless! The Musical receives its UK premi re at the Arts Theatre for a strictly limited 14 week run. The musical has played Off Broadway to critical acclaim over the past 25 years. This brand new production, directed by Richard Fitch, opens on 27 March, with previews from 16 March, and runs until 23 June. Public booking opening on 29 January.

OCTA is ready to sail into its new season on the wings of the musical spoof, Ruthless! Audiences can catch all the absurd fun of 'the stage mother of all musicals' September 15-October 1.