Upcoming Musical Theatre Guild Show ‘dark,’ but ‘really funny’
The Musical Theatre Guild of Butler’s upcoming show has themes of jealousy, betrayal and death and chronicles characters who reveal their true colors throughout the course of the runtime.
And when its director, Tammy Erkman, first saw a production of it staged years ago in Pittsburgh, she couldn’t stop laughing.
“Ruthless” debuts at the Musical Theatre Guild on Friday, June 19, and Erkman said although the plot follows a family that will do anything for the spotlight, it’s played in a way that makes the dark elements more comedic than catastrophic.
“It’s so absurd that it’s funny … I don’t think the audience will get stuck on the dark elements,” Erkman said. “When I presented this to the board, I said I know it sounds dark, but it’s really funny.”
“Ruthless” is about 8-year-old Tina, played by Lily Morgan, who misses out on being cast in her third-grade musical to a classmate, Louise, and instead takes on the duty of being her understudy. Learning the understudy takes on the role should anything happens to the main cast, Tina cooks up a murderous idea to become the star she thinks she deserves to be.
Act 1 of the play follows Lily and her deadly journey and Act 2 delves more into the lives of her family members, her mother, Judy, and her grandmother, Lita, as well as other players in the game of Broadway entertainment. These include Judy’s agent, Sylvia, and another spotlight-stealing starlet, Eve, who bears a striking resemblance to Louise.
The music of this musical takes on a tone and lyrics as humorous as its characters, with Erkman saying they are mainly patter-style solos, with each singer sharing their inner thoughts through song. It’s all accompanied by one instrument, the piano, which in this production will be played by Dominico Reyes.
The choreography is more minimal than your average musical and Erkman said the sets are relatively simple, especially when compared to the guild’s previous production, “Disaster.”
“Ruthless” features a cast of seven: Lily, Cierra Vandevort, RoAnn Romeo, Keri Hoffman, Sue Ann Aiken, Eric Snyder and “P. ‘Paprikia’ Erkman.”
Erkman said she hopes to see audiences get as much joy out of “Ruthless” as she and her family did when they saw a production in Pittsburgh.
“I remember being an audience member and I don’t typically laugh at shows, but I was cracking up,” Erkman said. “My son was crying laughing.”
“Ruthless” shows at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, June 19, 20, 26 and 27; and at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 28, at the Musical Theatre Guild of Butler in Butler Memorial Park. The show runs about one hour and 45 minutes, which includes a 15-minute intermission.
Tickets are available at the door and at mtgbutler.org.
