Photo Flash: First Look at New Cast Members Jennifer Diamond & Paul Pecorino in RUTHLESS! Off-Broadway

Due to overwhelming demand, the producers of the Off-Broadway smash, Ruthless! The Musical, recently put a new block of seats on sale through January 2, 2016. Since opening July 13th to unanimous rave reviews, RUTHLESS! has welcomed two new cast members: Paul Pecorino as Sylvia St. Croix and Jennifer Diamond as Louise Lerman and Eve Allabout. Book and lyrics are by Joel Paley with music by Marvin Laird. Paley also directed the original production of RUTHLESS! as well as productions in L.A., South Beach and the record-breaking concert event starring Bernadette Peters. He once again serves as director of the new production, with Marvin Laird on board as music supervisor as well.

When THE BAD SEED meets GYPSY, it's fun for the whole dysfunctional family! Tina Denmark is a pretty, charming and diabolical eight-year-old who "was born to entertain." With the encouragement of slick and overbearing potential agent Sylvia St. Croix, Tina will do anything to play the lead in her school play. The question is, where does such remarkable talent and unstoppable ambition come from? The answer is shocking in this award-winning Stage Mother of all musicals.

RUTHLESS! first appeared Off-Broadway 23 years ago at the Players Theatre, winning both the Drama Desk Award for Best Lyrics and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical. Most notably, the production featured a few young girls in the role of Tina including Britney Spears, Natalie Portman and Laura Bell Bundy. The show continues to be a favorite among regional theaters and productions are continually being staged around the globe.

But make no mistake - this is not your mother's RUTHLESS! This is no mere revival, but a newly imagined meditation on narcissism, talented tykes and stage mothers in a world that has since been introduced to such gems as "Toddlers & Tiaras" and 'Honey Boo Boo.'

This version of RUTHLESS! is the one co-creators Joel Paley and Marvin Laird have long envisioned. As Paley explains, "Before it became a full musical, it was a long one-act but, in the transformation, it became a two act musical because that's what was required to get it Off-Broadway. In this staging, we've done away with the intermission and have streamlined it into 90 minutes that is roller-coaster sharp and fast."

Currently featured in the cast of RUTHLESS! are Kim Maresca (Westport's TWELFTH NIGHT), Paul Pecorino (DEVIL BOYS FROM BEYOND, THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW), Rita McKenzie (ETHEL MERMAN'S BROADWAY, RUTHLESS! L.A.), Andrea McCullough (URINETOWN, GREASE),Jennifer Diamond (INTO THE WOODS, JEKYLL & HYDE), and introducing Tori Murray (Paper Mill's NEW VOICES OF 2014).

RUTHLESS! is produced Off-Broadway by Maxine Paul, Evan Sacks and Ken Schur. The playing schedule is Mondays & Fridays at 8 PM and Saturdays at 2 PM at St. Luke's Theatre, 308 West 46th Street, in the Heart of the Theatre District. Tickets are available throughwww.RuthlessTheMusical.com or by calling 212-239-6200.

Photos by Carol Rosegg