Jeff Fuller

CCP presents killer stage satire

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By John Lyle Belden

Show business is crazy.

Like really crazy, nuts, bonkers, cookoo! The kind of insane that you see in movies like “The Bad Seed” or “All About Eve,” which Joel Paley and Marvin Laird used as the touchstones for their 1990s Off-Broadway hit comedy musical, “Ruthless!” now presented by Carmel Community Players, directed by Kathleen Clarke Horrigan.

New York agent Sylvia St. Croix (Jeff Fuller) knows talent, and little Tina Denmark (Olivia Cook) has got it! Tina’s mother, Judy (Jonna Kauffman), sings very well for someone with no talent. Tina’s father, Frederick (Tristan Stecenko), is away on business.

The first step on Tina’s path to Broadway is getting the lead in the school production of “Pippi Longstocking: Pippi in Tahiti.” However, Miss Thorn (Holly Hathaway Thompson) has given the lead role to ungifted and unmotivated Louise Lerman (Jennifer Kaufmann). Tina can be the understudy, but she’s not settling for that.  

On hand to see Tina’s debut is Judy’s adopted mother, feared theatre critic Lita Encore (Jill O’Malia).  This show will be to die for!

That’s just the first act – after intermission, things get even more suspenseful and silly with rising star Ginger Del Marco (Jonna K.) and her assistant, Eve (Jennifer K.). Secrets will be revealed; a Tony award will be fondled; more characters will die dramatically.

And contrary to the title, there may even be a Ruth!

This clever parody and satire takes on the tropes of noir and theatre with equal gusto, a spectacle where over-the-top is never enough. The big song is Lita’s “I Hate Musicals!” wonderfully delivered by O’Malia – a nice palate cleanser between courses of chewing scenery.

Miss Cook shows herself capable to knock ‘em dead (not just literally) in any show. Fuller in mature-diva drag as St. Croix is commanding, and, in this setting, practically normal.  Jonna Kauffman gets in well-played moments as both ditz and diva, showcasing her dynamic voice.  Thompson and Jennifer Kaufmann are also gloriously goofy.

You’d be crazy to miss this. “Ruthless!” plays Thursday through Sunday at The Switch Theatre at Ji-Eun Lee Music Academy, 10029E. 126th St., Suite D., Fishers. Get tickets at carmelplayers.org.

Review: An entertaining and enlightening Sondheim salute

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By John Lyle Belden

Did you know that it took three tries before “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” had an opening song that worked?

You get lots of behind-the-scenes glimpses like this in “Sondheim on Sondheim,” Thursday through Sunday at Footlite Musicals. This hybrid of documentary and revue has Stephen Sondheim himself projected on a big screen, talking about his life and career, while live performers – Lauren Bowers, Graham Brinklow, Onis Dean, Laura Duvall-Whitson, Karen Frye, Jeff Fuller, Sarah Marone and Larry Sommers – sing songs from his stage shows. The numbers range from choruses and medleys to full performances of songs like “Gun Song,” “Finishing the Hat” and “Send in the Clowns.”

If you don’t like Sondheim – then, really, why are you reading this? – but if you do like the man or his musicals at all, you’ll find this show charming and insightful. The singers are well up to the task, with some, like director Bill Hale, having worked on the Footlite production of “Follies” a couple of years back. However, the orchestra on stage does threaten to sonically overwhelm them. Fortunately, the audience is also on the Footlite stage, an intimate arrangement that gives the vocalists the freedom and challenge of working un-mic’ed.

Circumstances limited the show’s run, so see it this weekend at the Hedback Theater, 1847 N. Alabama St. Call 317-926-6630 or see footlite.org.

Review: Locally-sourced ‘Toyland’

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By John Lyle Belden

The Footlite Musicals production of “Babes in Toyland” is both old and fresh, as the classic songs by Victor Herbert a century ago are set in a new book by the show’s director Bob Harbin (of Bibdirex fame) and comic megatalent Claire Wilcher (who, unfortunately, isn’t in the show). Harbin notes in the program that the original script is public domain, allowing him to put his and Claire’s own spin on the play.

The first act is practically a play in itself, set mostly in Mother Gooseland. Jack and Jill (Thomas Whitcomb and Breanna Jaffe) have taken a tumble, and Bo Peep (Samantha Shelton) has lost her sheep, but the biggest drama is that Mary Contrary (Claire Cassidy) wants to marry Tom Piper (Jonathan Krouse), but wicked landlord Barnaby (Jeff Fuller) demands to wed her instead. Neither Mary’s mother (Susan Smith) nor Mother Goose herself (Miki Mathioudakis) like the deal, but what hope is there for a happy ending – especially when Tom disappears? Fortunately some Gypsies (“We are Gypsies!” is a running gag) come in to help save the day.

Barnaby suffers a setback, but is not finished. The plot takes our characters in the second act to Toyland, home of a toymaker (Dan Flahive) who has given up on his craft. Time to work up another dramatic showdown towards a happy ending.

This show is very much geared towards the children and kids-at-heart, tykes who don’t mind if the beak of Mother Goose’s Gander (voiced by Curtis Peters) gets a little out of synch or if some of the joke lines fall flat. Another giggle-worthy moment or song-and-dance spectacle from this large all-ages cast is coming right up. Kudos to Fuller for playing his “boo-hiss” villain for all it’s worth. And best scene-stealer goes to Keilyn Bryant as Little BB (as in “Boy Blue”). Harbin does a great job wrangling all of the various elements that go into this show, providing an experience that feels like a holiday tradition, yet is a good alternative to the other traditional holiday shows around town you saw last year (and the year before, and the year before…).

“Toyland,” at the Hedback Theater, 1847 N. Alabama St. in downtown Indy, closes on Dec. 13, so get your reservation now at 317-923-6630 or www.footlite.org.