Stray Dog’s “Ruthless!” is kitschy, campy, and hilarious

Third grader Tina Denmark has talent. She wants nothing more than to play the lead role in the school musical. But what lengths will an 8-year-old stage brat go to in order to get her way? Would she consider injuring, or even murdering, another child who stands in her way? Indeed, she would, because Tina is “Ruthless!”

Joel Paley and Marvin Larid’s musical “Ruthless!” is a kitschy parody of stage brats and their overbearing mothers. Inspired by “The Bad Seed,” “Gypsy,” “All About Eve,” and “Valley of The Dolls,” “Ruthless!”, is a darkly funny musical that opened at Stray Dog Theatre on Thursday evening. Director Justin Been piles on the camp and melodrama as he takes his audience into a peculiar world that is part Douglas Sirk movie and part 1960’s sitcom with a little Donna Reed and Norma Desmond thrown in.

“Ruthless!” is set in the living room of the Denmark family home where everything, the painted walls, the mid-century furniture, and 1960’s inspired accessories are some shade of canary yellow. Even Judy Denmark, played by the hilarious Sarah Gene Dowling, is adorned in yellow. She floats into the room wearing a lemon print bow dress, a strand of oversized pearls, and yellow heels.

Judy, in all her Donna Reed glory, answers the ringing telephone identifying herself only as “Tina’s mother.” Dowling’s sing-song vocal timbre and her always present artificial smile immediately sets the tone for the demented world of Judy Denmark and her talented daughter Tina.

Dowling is on stage the entire production, fearlessly inhabiting all of Judy’s quirks. She is part doting stage mother with unrealistic goals and part Tony winning semi-talented Broadway diva. She is less like Gypsy Rose Lee, more like Kooky Rose Lee. Dowling’s outlandish portrayal is exaggeratedly hammy and very funny.

“Ruthless!” is filled will odd characters that are showy, hammy, and over-the-top. The sillier the actor’s characterization the more it adds to the script’s artificial, affected, and ironic tone.

Finley Mohr confidently portrays Judy’s devilish daughter Tina Denmark. Mohr gives Tina a comic diabolical streak that is buried under feigned childhood naivete.

Sarajane Clark (Sylvia) drips in old Hollywood glamour and vamps like a larger-than-life Norma Desmond outfitted in dozens of striking black and white fitted dresses. Her Sylvia is a sketch comedy caricature who could not be more artificially sincere.

Laura Kyro (Lita) is a cranky theater critic. She sinks her teeth into the biting number “I Hate Musicals,” that contains some of the funniest bitter bits of the show. Her tart delivery is snarky, corrosive, caustic, and hysterical.

Sarah Lantsberger plays Judy’s assistant Eve. Lantsberger is a terrific comedic actor, and milks laughs with both her delivery of the silly dialogue and her amusing physical comedy.

Finally, Anna Langdon’s plays Tina’s drama teacher Miss Thorn who sets the craziness in motion when she chooses to cast a student, other than Tina, as the lead in the school play. Langdon’s silly frustration with her drama students and the Denmarks incite exasperated outbursts that create a bit of foolish insanity.

Been’s collaboration with scenic designer Rob Lippert and costume designer Colleen Michelson gives the absurdly humorous musical its kitschy charm. The sets and costumes provide the actors a visual playground that adds to the folly, giving them license to create exaggerated characters. Lippert’s versatile set easily transitions from the Denmark’s living room into a Manhattan penthouse apartment for the second act. Michelson’s vintage costuming, wig design, and carefully selected footwear define each character’s oddities with their own specific style and color palette.

Music Director and Keyboardist Randon Lane has prepared the actors and musicians well to deliver the droll musical numbers. The four-piece band provided strong accompaniment without overpowering the actors allowing the lyrics to be heard so the jokes could hit. Joining Lane on keyboard was Mike Hansen on percussion, M. Joshua Ryan on bass, and Mary Jewell Wiley on reeds.

“Ruthless!” is a zany musical comedy filled with grim humor that keeps the laughs coming. It is sarcastic, sardonic, and filled with wacky zingers. Been, his cast, and the crew have created a theatrically campy production of a black musical comedy that is stuffed full of exaggerated and farcical performances.

“Ruthless!” continues at Stray Dog Theatre in the Tower Grove Abbey through August 24th. More information is available at the Stray Dog web site.