RUTHLESS! The Musical (1993 Los Angeles)

[morosco]

Posted: 12/12/20 at 4:00am

While watching the 2018 Broadway HD London production of RUTHLESS I was constantly reminded of how brilliant the 1993 Los Angeles production of the show was. The London production is rather tepid and lacks bite but the Los Angeles production was near perfection with it's comic precision and insanely talented cast. To my surprise that production is available on YouTube and I think it is nearly perfect. Here it is...

RUTHLESS! The Musical (1993 Los Angeles)

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 12/14/20 at 11:12am

Thank you for the link! I'll definitely watch it tonight to finally see the whole show.

I've always been partial to this version of "Born to Entertain" performed by Kathyn Zaremba from the concert version with Bernadette Peters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh4wJWlPOQk

[bk]

Posted: 12/17/20 at 1:47am

The LA production is the best the show has ever had - perfectly cast, directed, costumed.  The video on YouTube doesn't have the original LA Tina, Lindsay Ridgeway, who was brilliant - a shame she's not there.  I produced the cast album of that production and she's on that and the entire album will give you a sense of how great the production was and why it had such a long run at the Canon.

[nealb1]

Posted: 12/17/20 at 2:49pm

Love "Ruthless!"  Saw it many times at The Canon Theatre.  Have the cd, and I think I need to listen to it again.  It's been quite awhile now.  

[EthelMae]

Posted: 12/17/20 at 6:20pm

Never saw the L.A. production. But I practically lived at the Players Theatre in New York City when the original cast of Ruthless was playing there. Ironic that the original cast was never recorded while other productions were. I remember hearing that there was no money to do it then. Isn’t that always the case? That cast!- Joel Vig, Donna English, Laura Bell Bundy, Denise Lor, Susan Mansur and Joanne Baum (Ms. Baum did play the L.A. production).

I did find this on line, which I found funny:

• Note: Though the show was written for an all female cast, it has become somewhat of a tradition to have the role of Sylvia St. Croix performed by a man simply because Joel Vig gave the best audition for the original 1992 production.

 

 

Updated On: 12/17/20 at 06:20 PM

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 12/18/20 at 10:35am

EthelMae said: "Never saw the L.A. production. But I practically lived at the Players Theatre in New York Citywhen the original cast of Ruthless was playing there. Ironic that the original cast was never recorded while other productions were. I remember hearing that there was no money to do it then. Isn’t that always the case? That cast!- Joel Vig, Donna English, Laura Bell Bundy, Denise Lor, Susan Mansur and Joanne Baum (Ms. Baum did play the L.A. production).

I did find this on line, which I found funny:

• Note: Though the show was written for an all female cast, it has become somewhat of a tradition to have the role of Sylvia St. Croix performed by a man simply because Joel Vig gave the best audition for the original 1992 production.

"

What a cast! And Laura Bell Bundy can always say that both Britney Spears and Natalie Portman understudied her.

[SoCalDirector]

Posted: 12/18/20 at 6:06pm

I saw that Los Angeles production and it was tremendous. So vivid that all these years later I can still remember the cast of all these different moments.

[morosco]

Posted: 12/18/20 at 8:44pm

The video on YouTube doesn't have the original LA Tina, Lindsay Ridgeway, who was brilliant - a shame she's not there.

Hey bk, I didn't realize that wasn't Lindsay on the video. Do you by chance know the name of the actress? She's pretty darn funny.

[morosco]

Posted: 2/27/21 at 3:53pm

Here is some footage of Lindsay Ridgeway.

Born to Entertain

Born to Play this Part

The Pippi Song and Kisses and Hugs

Updated On: 2/27/21 at 03:53 PM

[bk]

Posted: 3/2/21 at 3:57am

morosco said: "The video on YouTube doesn't have the original LA Tina, Lindsay Ridgeway, who was brilliant - a shame she's not there.

Hey bk, I didn't realize that wasn't Lindsay on the video. Do you by chance know the name of the actress? She's pretty darn funny."

That's Lindsay's replacement late in the run - Kathryn Zaremba. We used Lindsay o a bunch of my albums back then - we all just adored her. Then when we had our second anniversary Kritzerland show back in 2012, I reunited Joan, Rita, and Lindsay - what fun. Lindsay's all grown up, married, and just had a baby, who'll probably be playing Tina eight years from now :)

Updated On: 3/2/21 at 03:57 AM