A ‘Ruthless!’ Spoof of Show Biz : Theater review: The fun is fast and furious in this sendup of stage mothers, child stars, agents and career-crushing critics.

When you cast an 8-year-old singing and dancing star in the musical spoof “Ruthless!,” you’d better have a killer of a kid in the part.

The Theater in Old Town does in home-grown talent Aleka Nicole Mesaros. Mesaros’ Tina Denmark is a quintessentially sweet-looking, tap-dancing cherub who would do absolutely anything for a starring role in the school play. And she does, a la “The Bad Seed,” because, after all, as she belts out with remarkably impressive pipes, she was “Born to Entertain.”

She’s reason enough to catch this production--but really, the show itself is pretty funny too. It’s Joel Paley’s campy, over-the-top sendup of stage mothers, child stars, agents and, yes, career-crushing critics who just love to stomp out talent with their singularly vicious reviews.

And although the authors may love to hate critics, Paley, who wrote the book and lyrics to Marvin Laird’s fine score, has given critic Lita Encore (a terrific Judi Prane) one of the best numbers, “I Hate Musicals”--in which she explains why she hates the whole stop-the-plot-for-a-song format, “but not as much as I hate this song.”

The 1992 Off Broadway hit was a crowd pleaser when it opened 1993 in Los Angeles. Theater in Old Town’s production of this smart and sassy little show, which plays through July 23, deserves to find its own audience.

Paley throws critics a curveball with a story so spoofy that it’s nearly impossible to tell the plot without giving away the jokes.

Briefly, the precocious Shirley Temple-haired Tina lives on the picture-perfect corner of Cleaver Drive and Brady Avenue with her picture-perfect mother, Judy (Judy Walstrum), who has pink polka-dotted everything from her dress to her vacuum cleaner to nightmarish perfection.

Enter the mysterious Sylvia St. Croix, Tina’s would-be agent who is played (for some reason never explained in any production of this play) by a man in drag. In this case, the man is Mesaros’ very talented real-life father, Steve Anthony, one of the original stars of “A Chorus Line.”

And then “The Bad Seed” meets “Gypsy,” “Mame” and every other show-biz cliche in the book. Will Tina get to play the lead in the school play, “Pippi in Tahiti”? Will Judy ever step out of her polka-dot world to learn the true identity of Tina and herself?

And when their lives do change, as to advance the plot they must, will they elude the inevitable “All About Eve”-type (Melanie Rey), who schemes to snatch away all their ill-gotten gains?

Paula Kalustian, the artistic director of The Theatre in Old Town, directs here with her customary wit. It helps, too, that she has assembled a fine cast. Anthony, who struts a mean pair of dancing legs under his gold lame, milks every moment--hamming it up in a way that merits praise rather than criticism in a show like this. A sweetly smiling Walstrum admirably finesses Judy’s big surprises. Franny McCartney is simply superb as the nasal Myrna Thorn, a frustrated actress turned third-grade teacher who dares to refuse to cast Tina as the lead. Prane smirks divinely as Lita, the critic we love to hate.

Nick Reid’s costumes may be less spectacular than Bob Mackie’s for the original L.A. production, but both his costumes and sets are nonetheless deliciously apt, segueing from the ‘50s-sitcom heaven of Act I to the splashy black-and-white melodrama of Act II with satirical fun.

Terry O’Donnell’s musical direction keeps the comedy kicking. The choreography by Theatre in Old Town producing director Jill K. Anthony (Steve Anthony’s wife and Mesaros’ mother) showcases the tap-dancing talents of Sylvia and Tina.

If all that sounds awfully insular, well, you couldn’t pick a more appropriate vehicle for an intra-family production than “Ruthless!”--a show about a show-business “bug” that can be thwarted only at your peril.

* “Ruthless!,” The Theatre in Old Town, 4040 Twiggs St., San Diego. Wednesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Ends July 23. $22-$27. (619) 688-2494. Running time: 2 hours, 17 minutes.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Steve Anthony: Sylvia St. Croix

Judy Walstrum: Judy Denmark

Aleka Nicole Mesaros: Tina Denmark

Franny McCartney: Myrna Thorn, Emily Block

Melanie Rey Louise: Lerman, Eve

Judi Prane: Lita Encore

A Theatre in Old Town production of the musical comedy by Joel Paley (book and lyrics) and Marvin Laird (music). Directed by Paula Kalustian. Musical direction: Terry O’Donnell. Choreography: Jill K. Anthony. Sets and costumes: Nick Reid. Lights: Terry Price. Sound: Stuart Holmes. Production stage manager: Jennifer L. Main.