Ruthless! The Musical
Closed 1h 30m
Ruthless! The Musical
77

Ruthless! The Musical NYC Reviews and Tickets

77%
(217 Ratings)
Positive
81%
Mixed
14%
Negative
5%
Members say
Funny, Entertaining, Clever, Quirky, Hilarious

About the Show

This campy cult favorite that spoofs the world of Broadway and child acting follows Tina, who will do anything to win the part of Pippi Longstocking in her school musical, including murdering the leading lady.

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Show-Score Member Reviews (217)

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86 Reviews | 16 Followers
100
Great acting, Funny, Thought-provoking, Exquisite, Great staging

See it if You like absurd.

Don't see it if You only like traditional theater.

70 Reviews | 15 Followers
100
Funny, Hilarious, Entertaining, Delightful

See it if you love laughing and old movies

Don't see it if if you don't get movie scripts rewritten and campy

230 Reviews | 46 Followers
100
Entertaining, Funny, Hilarious, Resonant, Quirky

See it if you like parodies and great acting

Don't see it if you dislike silliness

143 Reviews | 12 Followers
95
Entertaining, Delightful, Clever, Hilarious, Must see

See it if Like "The Bad Seed" "All About Eve" , "Gypsy" or any other backstage musical!

Don't see it if Don't want to laugh. Or is you "hate musicals"

110 Reviews | 16 Followers
95
Entertaining, Funny, Delightful, Hilarious, Great singing

See it if Like to see a take off of campy moments of some, movies, or Broadway plays.

Don't see it if if don't like the use of people using offensive language.

66 Reviews | 10 Followers
92
Hilarious, Must see, Clever, Entertaining, Great acting

See it if You want to enjoy a fun filled, sometimes campy, sometimes silly, laugh out loud joy ride.

Don't see it if You are in such bad mood nothing could possibly help. You don't like fun filled, sometimes campy, sometimes silly, laugh out loud shows.

71 Reviews | 41 Followers
91
Clever, Funny, Hilarious

See it if If you love high camp

Don't see it if If you don't have a funny bone.

85 Reviews | 23 Followers
90
Campy, Hilarious, Entertaining, Quirky

See it if You like campy movies, satire, old-school show tunes, breaking the fourth wall, or laughing hysterically.

Don't see it if You aren't into musicals, prefer subtlety to over-the-top, or want something dramatic and thought-provoking.

Critic Reviews (21)

The New York Times
July 19th, 2015

"The style of the show is so high camp there ought to be a sleepaway version. The actors give the material their big-voiced, big-haired all, but the antics often feel forced rather than delirious...As a kind of Theater of the Ridiculous, it isn’t ridiculous enough. In a decade dominated by reality TV, this satire loses fizz."
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Time Out New York
July 15th, 2015

"The preternaturally self-assured Tori Murray plays this Shirley Temple of doom in the show’s current revival, and the joke still kills. Not everything else about Joel Paley and Marvin Laird’s musical holds up quite so well, but it's an enjoyable slice of cyanide birthday cake. The show-tuneful score is lively and the main cast is strong…Rotten as the state of Tina Denmark may be, we can’t resist watching."
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New York Post
July 13th, 2015

"10-year-old Tori Murray plays the psycho third-grader with panache: She can sing, and she’s funnier than most of the adults in the cast. Too bad the production, itself, isn’t as assured...A couple of other actors border on the amateurish — frustrating when they waste songs that, in the right hands, could stop a show."
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Entertainment Weekly
July 13th, 2015

"This chintzy production suffers a tendency to have actors rush their lines and, at press time, still felt a bit under-rehearsed, which is a shame because there’s great stuff in this vaudevillian-inspired script. But over time, the proper balance might fall into place. To borrow a lyric from its title track, 'Ruthless!' stops just short of toothless."
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Theatermania
July 13th, 2015

"Paley helms a zippy and efficient production in the first half that becomes increasingly plodding as the actors claw and mug for every last laugh. Contemporary references (like Caitlyn Jenner) have been added to the script in an almost perfunctory manner. Ninety minutes is long enough for this fun diversion that doesn't quite rise to the level of a gut-busting so-bad-it's-good classic, try though it might."
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Talkin' Broadway
July 13th, 2015

"Everything we see after Tina 'pays' for what she's done strains visibly, and shows that excess, too, can be taken to excess. Except during the truly crazy final few minutes, the plot gets away from Paley and fails to capitalize on the endlessly inventive energy that fuels the show so capably early on...This production may lack all the guts it ought to have, but Tori Murray possesses them in spades."
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Theatre is Easy
July 17th, 2015

"Tiny Tina Denmark is anything but sweet. And this makes the revival of 'Ruthless!' an ideal treat for those who enjoy the camp humor of female-driven cult classics like 'Mommie Dearest'...While Paley’s book is perhaps the strongest element, Laird’s music is also a delight...While 'Ruthless!' is certainly campy summer fun, there’s also a deeper message, if you feel like digging a bit. Talent can be a curse, a virus even, passed down from one generation to the next."
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Theater Pizzazz
July 17th, 2015

"The cast is absolutely superb from start to finish...You will marvel at the genius firmly planted in Marvin Laird’s memorable musical score, and the riotously funny book and lyrics by Joel Paley could very well leave you with a belly ache from laughing so hard...This show will no doubt ignite a renewed appreciation for over the top, camp/horror musicals! I say bravo to that, original works with razor sharp teeth are exactly what Broadway needs."
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