Review: RUTHLESS is Top Notch Entertainment

"Ruthless!" at PASA is one of the best-directed and best-performed musicals I have seen in San Antonio. While the show cannot compete with the lavish production values of the Woodlawn and the Playhouse, it more than makes up for it in the inventiveness of Vaughn Taylor's direction and the quality of the performers.

Ms Taylor brings many entertaining and artful touches to the show, including references to Sunset Boulevard that were not in the original script. All the performances were spot on.

As Sylvia St Croix, Twyla Lamont knocks it out of the park with her singing and appropriate posturings. While the show lacks any particularly catchy numbers, Ms Lamont turns most of her numbers into showstoppers.

Katryna Marrtala as Judy Denmark is not far behind, showing remarkable talent for her age (16). One member of the audience compared her performance favorably with one he saw some 15 years ago featuring San Antonio diva Anna Gangai in the same role. High praise indeed.

Lauren Cole and Olivia Silva, as the older and younger Tina Denmark, also gave outstanding performances and they, along with Katryna Marrtala, deserve ATAC Globe awards as most promising newcomers, if only ATAC offered such awards. The other young performer, Sophia Laia as Louise Lerman, sounded like she had a sore throat on the night I attended, but gave an otherwise entertaining performance.

Jennifer Vincent was hysterically funny as Eve (a spoof of the Anne Baxter role in the Bette Davis movie All About Eve). Her mad stare should be patented and used to frighten naughty children.

It was a few minutes after the entrance of Lita Encore that it finally dawned on me that the part was being played by a man in drag. That man was Jef Maldonado, playing the part to perfection.

Iyana Colby and Logan Magoun show they have come a long way in the past two years, turning in sophisticated performances beyond their years.

Vaughn Taylor even made the stage managers, Shinaiya Furgeson and Morgan Turney, part of the fun, turning the scene changes into amusing vignettes that had the audience applauding.

The three-piece band was also excellent.

The photo shows Katryna Marrtala (left) and Twyla Lamont.