RUTHLESS! Takes Final Bow Off-Broadway Tonight; Tour in the Works

Off-Broadway's Ruthless! The Musical will end its 14-month run tonight, September 10th, prior to a national tour which will kick off in November -- finalized dates will be announced soon.

RUTHLESS! opened July 13, 2015. The original cast recording, produced by Robert Sher, is set for release this fall.

Book and lyrics are by Joel Paley with music by Marvin Laird. Paley also directed the 1992 debut of RUTHLESS! as well as productions in L.A., South Beach and the record-breaking concert event starring Bernadette Peters. He once again serves as director of the new production, with Marvin Laird on board as music supervisor.When THE BAD SEED meets GYPSY, it's fun for the whole dysfunctional family! Tina Denmark is a pretty, charming and diabolical eight-year-old who "was born to entertain." With the encouragement of slick and overbearing potential agent Sylvia St. Croix, Tina will do anything to play the lead in her school play. The question is, where does such remarkable talent and unstoppable ambition come from? The answer is shocking in this award-winning Stage Mother of all musicals.

RUTHLESS! first appeared Off-Broadway 24 years ago at the Players Theatre, winning both the Drama Desk Award for Best Lyrics and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical. Most notably, the production featured a few young up & comers in the role of Tina including Britney Spears, Natalie Portman and Laura Bell Bundy. The show continues to be a favorite among regional theaters and productions are continually being staged around the globe.

But make no mistake - this is not your mother's RUTHLESS! This is no mere revival, but a newly imagined meditation on narcissism, talented tykes and stage mothers in a world that has since been introduced to such gems as "Toddlers & Tiaras" and 'Honey Boo Boo.'

This version of RUTHLESS! is the one co-creators Joel Paley and Marvin Laird have long envisioned. As Paley explains, "Before it became a full musical, it was a long one-act but, in the transformation, it became a two act musical because that's what was required to get it Off-Broadway. In this staging, we've done away with the intermission and have streamlined it into 90 minutes that's roller-coaster sharp and fast."

Featured in the cast of RUTHLESS! are Kim Maresca (THE NEXT STAGE at Feinstein's/54 Below, Westport's TWELFTH NIGHT), Paul Pecorino (DEVIL BOYS FROM BEYOND, THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW), Tori Murray (Nickelodeon's "All in with Cam Newton"), Rita McKenzie (Ethel Merman'S BROADWAY, RUTHLESS! L.A.), Andrea McCullough (URINETOWN, GREASE), and Tracy Jai Edwards (HAIRSPRAY, LEGALLY BLONDE).

RUTHLESS! is produced Off-Broadway by Maxine Paul, Evan Sacks and Ken Schur.