Six women in colourful outfits pose in a tableau on stage.
Echo Theatre

Ruthless! The Musical

Book and Lyrics by Joel Paley
Music by Marvin Laird

Step into a Technicolor tornado in Ruthless! The Musical—a high-camp satire where ambition kills and jazz hands slay. With just six cast members and two musicians, it’s a bold, bonkers, cost-effective show bursting with pastel glamour, razor-sharp wit, and vaudevillian flair. Small cast, big impact.

A young woman in a 1950s style polka dot dress singing cheerfully on stage with her hands in the air.

ABOUT THE SHOW

The stage mother of all musicals!

How far would you go to get what you want?

All-female camp KILLER cult classic Ruthless! The Musical tells the story of the beautiful and talented 8-year-old Tina Denmark who will do anything to play the lead in her school play…ANYTHING!

When little Tina Denmark, a precocious little triple-threat, gets herself a manager and tries out for the lead in the school play, her and mother’s lives are thrown into a high-camp chaos! One thing leads to another, which leads to another, which leads to another, and suddenly there’s death and destruction belting and Fosse all over the place.

It’s Ethel Merman on steroids. It’s Judy Garland if she snapped. It’s brilliant, bold, and totally bonkers.

“This production of Ruthless! – the stage mother of all musicals is top quality in all departments…”

Ruthless! The Musical features a sharp, satirical score by Marvin Laird and Joel Paley, blending classic Broadway pastiche with wickedly clever lyrics. The story follows Tina Denmark, a seemingly sweet 8-year-old who’ll stop at nothing to land the lead in her school play—even murder. Structured as a fast-paced, two-act parody, the show twists through shocking revelations, reincarnations, and theatrical chaos, all while skewering showbiz ambition, stage mothers, and the price of fame. Each song drives the outrageous plot forward with campy flair, from show-stopping solos to over-the-top ensemble numbers that wink at Broadway tradition while gleefully tearing it apart.

While Echo Theatre's production of Ruthless! The Musical is an over-the-top musical spoof, it also has deep respect and love for the communities it celebrates—engaging LGBTQI+ people, women, and older audiences with integrity, authenticity, and joy. The show is a campy homage to the golden age of 1950s musicals, but the team's creative choices are consciously progressive and inclusive. They honour the genre's legacy without reinforcing outdated norms, embracing diversity in both casting and leadership to reflect the world we live in. 

Echo Theatre's approach to production isn’t just about representation- they're not interested in just ticking the boxes- it’s about empowerment, creating a backstage, onstage, and audience environment where every identity is respected, every voice is valued, and every moment of fabulous fun is grounded in care, collaboration, and community.

They are acutely aware of the current trend for audiences to want to engage with works that are light, funny, and escapist. While Ruthless may not be a well-known musical, it has catchy tunes that will feel familiar to audiences, and its characters will be instantly recognisable to any music theatre fan. 

"I love this show- it’s perfect for people who love musicals—and those who love to hate them (like me!). With clever lyrics, catchy and complex tunes, and characters that are both richly drawn and hilariously over-the-top, it’s a delicious mix of dark satire and silly fun. Wickedly smart, wildly colourful, and gloriously absurd."
- Jordan Best, Director -

reviews

“Jordan Best directs with power and panache, never letting the pace drop. Not to be missed by lovers of musicals, good spoofs and the 60s.” - Alanna Maclean, Canberra Critics Circle

“Ruthless!” is an angry comedy, and the director and cast relish the arch humour and dizzy plot, for a demented but unrepentant night of entertainment.” - John Lombard, City News.

“Jordan Best directs with tongue-in-cheek glee, hitting every gag in the script and finding several new ones, showing a splashy lack of restraint and an overarching sense of joy and ridiculousness as the larger-than-life characters show off ego, desire and above all, the title characteristic of completely lacking Ruth.” - Can Theatre Watcher

A young woman in a 1950s style polka dot dress doing the splits. She is smiling.
A woman wearing a 1950s housewife dress speaking into a blue rotary dial telephone.
Three women in colourful outfits standing on stage. The woman in the middle has an excited look on her face.
A woman in formalwear singing on stage. Two other women, dressed in 1950s dresses look on.
A woman in formalwear sings on stage with her hand raised in the air. The word 'Ruthless' is written on the back wall.
A woman in formalwear stands on a stage with her hands in the air. She has a hat with feathers on her head.
Two women sit on a colourful couch in theatrical 1950s style dresses. A third woman stands behind them.
Six women in colourful outfits dancing on stage with their hands outstretched.

ABOUT ECHO THEATRE

Echo is a professional theatre company with a home at The Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, committed to producing high quality, low carbon footprint, productions designed to tour from the outset, reducing remount costs and the environmental impacts associated with having to redesign work to tour. Echo Theatre works to reverse the traditional touring flow by getting regionally produced work to other venues across NSW and Australia.

Production photography credit: Photox - Ben Appleton

Ready to Tour

If you are interested in touring get in contact!

Arts on Tour
02 8038 1880
touring@artsontour.com.au