Show Synopsis:
Talented eight-year-old Tina wants to be a star but does not get the lead in the school musical because Louise has well-connected parents. Tina accidentally-on-purpose kills Louise so that she can have the part, and her grandmother Lita, a ruthless theatre critic, comes to the musical. She reveals that Tina?s mother Judy was actually the daughter of a Broadway star who committed suicide because of Lita?s reviews, and Judy realizes that she also has natural talent for performing. Tina is sent away to a school for psychopaths and Judy becomes a Broadway star as Ginger Del Marco, her given name. Tina is released from her school but Ginger does not believe she has reformed. Tina?s former agent Sylvia wants to take her under her wing, and reveals that she is actually Judy?s mother. Ginger?s assistant Eve is revealed to be Louise?s real mother, working for Ginger in hopes of getting her revenge, and Ginger kills her in self defense. Tina tells her mother she needs to be cast in a Broadway play if she wants to live. Lita and Sylvia fight and both die. Ginger decides to go back to being a boring housewife named Judy, and Tina decides she wants to be a TV star instead of a Broadway star. Judy kills herself with electrocution to teach her daughter a lesson, and Tina moves to Hollywood in hopes of landing a TV series.
Character:
Myra Thorn, a middle-aged third grade teacher who wants to put on a successful play and is tired of education politics.
Song Context:
Myra, a former performer, tells Judy that Tina?s obsession with playing the lead in the school musical is not quite healthy, and she thinks that Tina should get used to the idea that her life might not follow a clear path to stardom. She suggests that Tina think of other ways to spend her time, like she had to do.
Fun Facts:
1) Susan Mansur played Myra in the New York premiere of Ruthless!.
2) Ruthless! has never been on Broadway. It premiered Off-Broadway in 1992 (with future pop star Britney Spears as the understudy for Tina) and has become a cult favorite for amateur theatre troupes.
"There?s no need to worry!?
Unknit your brow, For though Tina?s taking this hard right now, ?
Experience tells me, I?m happy to say,? She?ll get over her disappointment someday.??
Teaching third grade, ?Shaping the minds of a new generation, ?No longer afraid to get on with my life ?and off medication!?Sure, I went to New York to be an?Overnight sensation.? More than a face,? I was a winning combination of talent and grace.?I should?a packed mace ?cause I was ?Mugged, raped and robbed before I left Penn Station.
Now I?m back, Lord, at the blackboard?Teaching third grade.?Something to fall back on ??Sure, it works for some,?But I fell back, and look what life?s become!
Tonight I?ll get cozy,?Pour wine, light the tapers,?Then sit there alone there all night?Grading papers.?The pay may be steady,?My summer?s are free,?But do you want your daughter to?Turn out like me???Yeah, I had something to fall back on,?Safe and so secure,?With very few surprises in store.?This cheery demeanor,?It?s all a charade.?The truth is I?m bored!?I hate teaching third grade.??Sick of Jane and sick of Dickie,?Never quiet, always sticky.?Noses runny, noses bleedy,?Little runts so bloody needy.?Joan hits Janice with a slinky,?Bart makes Terry touch his winkie.?This one cried and that one peed!?I can?t take it - God, I need?Something to fall back on?From what I?ve fallen back on.??As far as the lead in the show, my dear, ?She?ll have to get over not winning this year.?Into each life, rain falls.?I?m afraid life is a bitch?And it starts in third grade."