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RUTHLESS! - THE MUSICAL by Joel Paley & Marvin Laird 20 April to 12 May 2001 Directed by Simone de Haas Musical Direction by Brad King Cast List Review Ruthless! Katherine Lyall-Watson - Time Off - 25 April 2001 Ruthless is a musical with bite and heaps of wit. Even if, like me, you aren't a big fan of the musical genre, I'm willing to bet you'll get heaps of laughs out of this show. Mixed Company has mounted a seamless production, which also boasts stellar performances and tight direction. This is a return season for the show which won the Perform/4MBS Award for Best Musical 2000. Charlie Koranias, an enormously talented 10-year-old, plays the central part of Tina - the little girl with more ambition and tricks up her sleeve than your average politician. Tina is determined to be a star and will let no one stand in her way to the top. When she doesn't get the lead in the school musical, all hell breaks loose as she does anything she has to to get the part. She'll stop at nothing, not even murder. Leisa Barry-Smith is sensational as Tina's sickly sweet, obsessive mother who gets her self-worth from her daughter's success - until in a moment of revelation she discovers her own talent and becomes almost as ruthless as her child. Barry-Smith's transformation from the cartoon cut-out Mum to self-absorbed Diva is marvelous.
The plot has far too many twists and additional characters to go into here; suffice to say it keeps surprising and amusing its audience throughout. Simone de Haas has taken on a huge job: she's the director, choreographer, costume and set designer and she even does Paul Dellit's make-up! And she's done a great job in every one of her many roles. Everything about Ruthless is slick, smooth and professional. If you enjoy musicals don't miss this, and even if you don't normally enjoy them, there's enough satire and tongue-in-cheek humour in Ruthless to still make it a really good night out. |
