CLO Cabaret's 'Ruthless' skewers film divas, demons
-
Marlana Dunn, left, and Allison Joyce in Pittsburgh CLO's "Ruthless! The Musical"
Share with others:
"Ruthless! the Musical" was so much fun the first time, Van Kaplan couldn't resist directing it again.
The Pittsburgh CLO executive producer directed the show in the 1990s for the Casa Manana theater company in Fort Worth, Texas, and wasn't about to give it to someone else when he programmed the show for the CLO Cabaret. It marks his directing debut at the venue.
"It's a campy send-up of many Broadway musicals and movies, and I thought it would be great to do a big musical at the cabaret. This is the first full-blown musical, a traditional book musical, in that space, and there are a lot of twists and plot turns, things that happen at the end of the show, and I knew it was something our audience would enjoy. We like to have light, fun entertainment at the cabaret."
Where: CLO Cabaret at the Cabaret at Theater Square, Downtown.
When: Through May 6.
Tickets: $34.75-$44.75; pittsburghclo.org or 412-456-6666.
Wicked fun. "Ruthless," with book and lyrics by Joel Paley and music by Marvin Laird, spoofs shows that go behind the scenes to reveal the world of over-the-top stage mothers ("Gypsy") and cutthroat ambition ("All About Eve"). In today's world of "Toddlers & Tiaras" and "Dance Moms," it seems positively prescient.
It all starts with the casting of a third-grade musical and 8-year-old Tina Denmark, who was "born to entertain" but is initially denied the lead role. Productions have included a concert version -- directed by Mr. Paley and starring Bernadette Peters as mom Judy Denmark -- which went in 1992 to off-Broadway, where it ran for almost a year with Laura Bell Bundy ("Legally Blonde") as Tina and Natalie Portman and Britney Spears as understudies.
Mr. Paley said he can't figure out how Mr. Kaplan did it, but the first full production of "Ruthless! the Musical," before it was published and went to New York, was the one in Texas.
It all started with a Philadelphia kid's fascination with "The Bad Seed," a horror story about a killer kid that went from novel to stage to screen. That kid was Mr. Paley, who went on to tour with the all-male Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. In his 20s, he was part of a group called the Apartment Theater, which put on tailor-made shows in friends' apartments as birthday gifts.
"Because I loved 'The Bad Seed,' one of the bits I wrote was as a critic coming to review the musical version of 'The Bad Seed' called 'Seedy.' It also was inspired by a singer from Scotland, Lena Zavaroni. I saw this little girl on 'The Mike Douglas Show,' and she was, like, 11 years old and she sang like Ethel Merman. I thought, 'That is so creepy,' so between that and 'The Bad Seed,' I wrote this review and put it in the show, and now it was in my repertoire of material."
It was a few years later when Les Ballets Trockadero was doing a Shirley MacLaine TV special that he met composer/music director Marvin Laird, who has been his partner for more than 35 years. With Mr. Laird's encouragement, he began to write a musical built around the Apartment Theater bit -- "The first time the review came before the musical."
One thing stood in the way of "Ruthless" on its way to the New York Outer Critics Circle Award as Best Off-Broadway Musical 1993. The Maxwell Anderson estate would not give up the rights to the story.
"Right now we have so many parodies ... but this was before 'Saturday Nigh Live,' and it was before 'South Park' and 'The Simpsons' irreverent humor. The Anderson estate thought I was making fun of 'The Bad Seed.' I wasn't. It was my favorite thing in the world. Trockadero taught me ... we were all men who did ballet in drag and we never made fun of ballet. I never knew a group of guys who love and respect ballet more. Satire is funny when it comes from love."
Just when Mr. Paley thought "Ruthless" would be no more than a parlor piece among friends, along came "Saturday Night Live," and suddenly parody was all the rage. Ms. Peters' manager encouraged Mr. Paley to be on the safe side and incorporate parodies of other things into his camp-fest, so it wasn't so obviously about one subject.
"The other things I loved were these great strong women, from 'Gypsy,' 'Valley of the Dolls,' the women of George Kukor [films]," Mr. Paley said.
He also took the advice to "find your penmanship medal," which for Mr. Paley was the lead in the school show.
"It's the most important thing; I would have killed to get the lead (I didn't have to; I got it). So I made the penmanship medal that prize; [Tina] kills for the lead. It took off from there."
In Pittsburgh, Tina will be played by Allison Joyce, a fifth-grader at Avonworth Elementary who is in her third year of studies at the CLO Academy. She has appeared in several Pittsburgh CLO productions, including as Melinda Cratchet in "A Musical Christmas Carol." "Marvelous Wonderettes" veterans Courtney Bassett and Marlana Dunn also have key roles as Eve/Louise and Tina's mother Judy, respectively.
Mr. Paley's thoughts on casting Tina have evolved since he saw a production in London that featured an adult in the role. He was against the casting at first, but it's grown on him.
"Originally, I thought the whole thing was you get the youngest, littlest, peanutiest person, because the tinier the person is, when she turns into this Bette Davis ... but then I saw an adult do it, and it was brilliant. It was so good, especially because she does have to age four years. Where I am now, rather than try to get a 7-year-old try to act older, I'd rather go with a 14- or 15-year-old, for me, who really can act, who can play younger, because it's so important that the character go through this transformation."
"Ruthless" is a change of pace from the previous CLO Cabaret fare."It's like everything we do at the cabaret," Mr. Kaplan said. "We make it work in that space. It will be played with the grand piano, which becomes part of the show. And we do break the fourth wall occasionally. It's a challenge, but I think it will work well in that space. At least I hope so."
No worries, Mr. Paley said -- whether it's a barely there set or an elaborately staged extravaganza, "Ruthless" has the songs and the story for a fun night at the theater.
"The sets can be fun, the costumes can be fun, but it really is about the material, the direction, the understanding of what's fun about it. Nothing thrills me more than when I see someone like Van, who gets it, interpret it."
First Published January 31, 2012 12:00 am
