Creative Cauldron to Present Cult Hit RUTHLESS! THE MUSICAL

Creative Cauldron presents the regional premiere of award-winning cult-hit Ruthless! The Musical, with book and lyrics by Joel Paley, music by Marvin Laird, and direction by Creative Cauldron Artistic Associate Matt Conner.

The original Off-Broadway run of Ruthless! The Musical was nominated for five Drama Desk Awards in 1991-92 and won for Outstanding Lyrics. It won the 1993 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical. This original run helped launch the careers of Natalie Portman and Britney Spears as understudies in the role of Tina Denmark. The musical re-launched Off-Broadway in 2015 under the direction of Joel Paley and is running there currently.

Creative Cauldron's production will run October 6th through 30th, 2016 at ArtSpace Falls Church. Press Night is Saturday, October 8th, 2016 at 8 PM.

"It's a hilarious, off-beat sendup that puts all the backstage drama downstage center," says director Matt Conner, "anyone who loves musicals will die laughing."

Ruthless!, often billed as "the stage mother of all musicals," is a musical farce about a cutthroat eight-year-old, Tina Denmark, whose Broadway ambitions mean she is willing to do anything for the chance to play the lead in her school play. Ruthless! is a campy favorite that famously spoofs Broadway hits like Gypsy and Mame as well as classic films like The Bad Seed and All About Eve. This production will feature Creative Cauldron newcomer Sophia Manicone in the role of Tina Denmark. Creative Cauldron veteran Katie McManus (Helen Hayes © Recommended productions of World Goes 'Round and Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living In Paris) will play Tina's overbearing stage mother Judy Denmark. McManus has previously appeared at The Shakespeare Theatre, Studio Theatre, Signature Theatre and as a special guest soloist at the Kennedy Center. Iyona Blake, recently named a DCMTA Staff Favorite for her performance in Creative Cauldron's Caroline, or Change, will play Miss Thorne, a failed actress turned teacher. The remaining cast features Kathy Halenda (eighteen national tours including Gypsy and Fiddler on the Roof), Jordan DeBona (Creative Cauldron's World Goes 'Round, Signature's The Fix and Cabaret), and Tamarin Ythier (Epic Productions' I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change!).

Director Matt Conner recently directed Creative Cauldron's critically acclaimed, Helen Hayes © Recommended musical Caroline, or Change. He received a Helen Hayes Award © Nomination for Outstanding Director of a Musical - HELEN Production with Stephen Gregory Smith for Creative Cauldron's 2015 production of The Turn of the Screw. He directed Creative Cauldron's 2015 production of Once on This Island, which received a 2016 Helen Hayes Awards © Nomination for Outstanding Musical - HELEN Production. With Stephen Gregory Smith, Conner has written two critically acclaimed world premiere musicals under Creative Cauldron's Bold New Works for Intimate Stages initiative. He is a nationally recognized musical composer known for Nevermore, Night of the Living Dead: The Musical, and The Hollow. In 2008, Conner was one of six composers awarded a commission through Signature Theatre's (Arlington, VA) "American Musical Voices Project: The Next Generation." His new musical Silver Belles, written with Allyson Currin and Stephen Gregory Smith, will premiere at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA this winter. Conner and Smith's third Bold New Works world premiere, Kaleidoscope, will appear at Creative Cauldron in May, 2017.

The creative team for Ruthless! includes Walter "Bobby" McCoy as Musical Director, Margie Jervis as Scenic and Costume Designer, and Joseph Lovins as Lighting Designer.

Tickets for Ruthless! can be purchased at creativecauldron.org or by calling 703-436-9948.

Creative Cauldron is a non-profit arts organization whose innovative programs in the performing and visual arts embody collaboration, experimentation and community engagement. Creative Cauldron was founded by Producing Director Laura Connors Hull in 2002. In June of 2009, Creative Cauldron acquired a permanent home in ArtSpace Falls Church, a 3,000 square foot flexible arts space that provides a venue for year-round classes, live performances of theater, music and dance and visual art exhibits. Programs are presented in part through grants from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts, the Arts Council of Fairfax County, the City of Falls Church and the Little City CATCH Foundation. Creative Cauldron's programs are also supported by generous corporate and individual sponsors.

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