Ruthless! The Musical Review

Arts Theatre London- until June 22nd 2018.  Reviewed by Prachya van de Gevel
 
4**** 
Thoroughly entertaining with plenty of laughs presented by the acting talents of this superb cast.
 
Ruthless! The Musical, is a wonderfully entertaining evening out, with many laughs and punchy one liners. The musical centres around Tina Denmark, a little girl with dreams of being a star, whatever it takes… Her mother Judy Denmark along with her manager Sylvia St Croix maybe just might know a few thing about talent, and nothing will stand in the way of talent.
The costumes and sets are very fitting with the time, whilst there are only two main sets, it quickly disappears into the background as the strong cast of 6 takes the main stage.  Jason Gardiner as Sylvia St Croix recalls to me the theatrics from the many popular Drag Queens but not once does he break character and he sings with effortless energy, this was the first time I had seen him perform outside of being a television judge and this role really made his talents shine.
Tonight’s talented “ingenue” was played by Anya Evans in the role of Tina Denmark, terrifying at times with dark undertones this was reiterated by the dramatic sound effects, when the first F bomb drops it’s completely shocking but doesn’t even tip the iceberg of the shocking plot twists yet to come, but I won’t reveal any spoilers. Judy Denmark , Tina’s Mother is played by Kim Maresca, what starts as your “Stepford wife” soon becomes a bright star, I found her in the first act absolutely wonderful and her poise and grace a complete juxtaposition to the role that becomes her in the second act.
Harriet Thorpe as Myrna Thorn the school headmistress, living out her days as a washed up actress turned Headmistress attempting to reclaim her glory days is charming in her own way though not in too many scene she does command the stage and in my head no doubt the inspiration for the character of Madam Morrible from Wicked.
The supporting characters of Louise Lehrman / Eve played by Lara Dening fade slightly in the presence of the other characters on stage her turn as Tina’s rival and Judy’s assistant has its charm but when other characters are on stage we await with baited breath of their next move and are more drawn to them than to the characters Lara Dening portrays.
One of the standout performances of the show was Tracie Bennett as Lita Encore, Judy Denmark’s mother, every scene she is in she is always acting, I noticed that even in scenes where she has no lines whilst other characters are awaiting their next lines she is still there in full character reacting to the drama that is unfolding and for that reason she steals the scenes from the main characters as she always draws focus.
The whole production is slick and I was thoroughly entertained with a wonderful performance and many laughs I was left with no doubt how  “Ruthless!” show business can be.