This delightfully twisted musical, with book and lyrics by Joal Paley and music by Marvin Laird, is hilarious. Stephen Knoll-Gentry's direction focuses attention on the performances, which work wonderfully in broad comic bits as well as in tiny exquisite details. The story follows the rising career of little wannabe star Tina Denmark (Rachel Hirschfeld), who'll do anything to get the lead role of Pippi Longstocking in her school play. Tina's mother, Judy (Jayme Armstrong), distrusts the showbiz life for reasons that are unclear to her, but she's swayed by the sudden presence of theatrical Sylvia St. Croix (Kevin Beaty), who sees star potential in little Tina. However, when play director Myrna Thorn (Cindy Warden) casts another little girl in the lead, trouble looms on the horizon.
Armstrong's performance as Judy is one of the most expert and detailed pieces of comic acting I've ever seen. She's funny, she's touching, and she demonstrates that she can sing powerfully and expressively in numbers such as "It Will Never Be That Way Again" and the perfectly modulated duet with Beaty, "Where Tina Gets It From." Beaty is fabulous as the mysterious Sylvia. He nails every joke in a performance that feels not so much acted as lived in, bravura work that sizzles with wit. His rendition of "I Want the Girl" is amusing when it needs to be, but he brings a dramatic credibility to it, as well. Hirschfeld is very good as the tyro tyke, humorously proficient in switching from sweetness and light to Bad Seed glare at a moment's notice. She impressively holds her own among the adult actors and sings well in such songs as "To Play This Part" and her fine duet with Armstrong, "Parents and Children."
Warden is very funny as the frustrated Thorn and the "thespian" reporter Emily Block, as is Merry Simkins as Tina's rival Louise and the conniving assistant Eve. Carol Woodbury is dryly amusing as theatre critic Lita Encore, so tough that she gives her own granddaughter a scathing review. The band (conductor/piano Bruce Coyle, Ted Hamer, Tom Bowe, and Dana Decker) offers lively and clever accompaniment, and Karen Knoll's costume design is appropriately garish and fun. Ruthless! is a star, baby.