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Stage West’s Cruel Intentions
A group of privileged and hormonal teens from an exclusive prep school on summer vacay–that’s a recipe for all kinds of scheming and trouble, in the cult-fave Cruel Intentions: the ‘90s Musical, which begins a 3-week run at Stage West on Thursday, May 4. The production will continue at Uptown Players starting June 1.
Sebastian Valmont and Kathryn Merteuil are diabolically charming and amoral step-siblings with a taste for game-playing. Kathryn, who was dumped over the 4th of July, is seething and out for revenge, and she asks Sebastian to seduce her ex’s new squeeze, the sweetly naive Cecile. Sebastian has a more appealing target, though—he wants to pursue the newly-arrived headmaster’s virginal daughter, Annette. After some back and forth, both agree to the terms of a high-stakes wager, and it’s game on. At first, things seem to be going to plan. But events begin to spiral out of control, leading to unforeseen consequences. Turns out, love can be quite the bittersweet symphony, and karma’s definitely a bitch.
This engaging musical was adapted from the film, Cruel Intentions, written and directed by Roger Kumble, who updated the source material of Les Liasons Dangereuses from 18th century France to New York in the 90s. He and co-creators Lindsey Rosin and Jordan Ross peppered the script with some of the best tunes of the period, making this one both a naughty-fun and way-tuneful ride!
“Fun, sexy, and seductive. It’s a great time!” – Huffington Post
(standing) D’Mariel, Carly Wheeler, Jonah Munroe, Kathryn Jacobson, Sarah Gay,
(lower) Andrew Meier, Hannah Valdovinos, Ethan Massengale, Emma Colwell
Roger Kumble began his career as a playwright in 1993 with the Hollywood satire Pay or Play, which garnered him the LA Weekly Award for Best Comic Writing. His second play, 1997’s d girl, starring David Schwimmer, earned him four Drama-logue Awards. In 2003, Kumble completed his Hollywood trilogy with the critically acclaimed Turnaround, again starring David Schwimmer, which sold out its entire run in Los Angeles. His 2011 play, Girls Talk was a satire on LA private schools and was mentioned by the LA Times as one of the best plays of that year. Kumble made his feature-film-directorial debut with 1999’s Sony Pictures box-office hit, Cruel Intentions, his adaptation of Choderlos De Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair; his screenplay transposed the French classic to modern New York. He followed with the Sony Pictures comedy The Sweetest Thing, starring Cameron Diaz & Christina Applegate; New Line Cinema’s Just Friends, starring Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris; Disney’s College Road Trip starring Martin Lawrence; Furry Vengeance, Netflix’s Falling Inn Love and Voltage Picture’s After We Collided, which was one of the most profitable films of 2021. He recently wrapped production on Voltage Pictures’ Beautiful Disaster, which he adapted and directed from the novel. Television directing credits include episodes of Entourage, Suits, and Pretty Little Liars. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and lives in Los Angeles with his wife Mary and three children.
Lindsey Rosin is a professional writer, director, lyricist, producer and author. She recently sold a half-hour television pilot entitled Lexapros and Cons to AwesomenessTV, which she co-wrote along with Aaron Karo based on his YA novel of the same name. She is set to write and executive produce the forthcoming series. She is also currently writing a jukebox musical feature film for Netflix and developing a soapy, one-hour TV series with Lionsgate and Temple Hill. She was a writer on season one and two of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist and was nominated for an Emmy in 2021 for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for a song she co-wrote for the series entitled Crimson Love. In the past few years, she has written and developed numerous tv pilots, including projects for ABC, NBC, CBS, Freeform, MTV and SyFy. In 2016 she co-wrote, and co-executive produced a television pilot for NBC based on the movie Cruel Intentions. She also co-created and directed Cruel Intentions: The Musical, which originally premiered in Los Angeles in 2015 before running off-Broadway from 2017-2018 and embarking on its first national tour in 2019. In the summer of 2019, the show premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Theater Festival where it won an audience award for Best Musical. Lindsey’s debut novel, Cherry, a coming-of-age, laugh-out-loud tale of first times, last chances, and the enduring friendships that make it all worthwhile, was published by Simon Pulse in 2016 and has since been published in the U.K., Italy, Spain and France. Lindsey began her writing career as a young playwright, having won numerous statewide and nationwide young playwriting competitions. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Josh, her almost two-year-old daughter, Helen, her two-month-old son, Judah, and her adorable poodle-mix, Dodger. She is a member of the WGA and ASCAP and is represented by ICM, Underground Management and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman, Inc.
Jordan Ross Schindler is a Writer/Producer from the Philly suburbs who is unapologetically stuck in the WB-era of television and proud of it. He got his start in musical theatre in 2015 as the co-creator of Cruel Intentions: The ʻ90s Musical. Since then, Cruel has played Off-Broadway, recorded an original cast album, toured nationally, and its first UK company won BroadwayWorldʼs Best Musical Production at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. After co-writing NBCʼs 2016 Cruel Intentions sequel pilot, which starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jordan joined the writersʼ room for the final season of Eʼs The Royals. Currently, heʼs developing a dramedy pilot for MGM Television and is a Co-Producer on Netflix’s upcoming teen drama My Life With the Walter Boys.
(standing) Ethan Massengale, Kathryn Jacobson, Sarah Gay,
(lower) Emma Colwell, Hannah Valdovinos, D’Mariel, Andrew Meier, Carly Wheeler, Jonah Munroe
Cruel Intentions: the ‘90s Musical will be directed by Stage West’s Associate Producer Garret Storms. The vibrant young cast features eight faces new to Stage West: Kathryn Jacobson as Kathryn, Ethan Massengale as Sebastian, Logan Graye as Cecile, Andrew Meier as Greg, D’Mariel as Blaine, Sarah Gay as Dr. Greenbaum and Bunny Caldwell, Emma Colwell as Marci et al, and Garrett Weir as Court et al. Hannah Valdovinos, last at Stage West in Between Riverside and Crazy, will play Annette, and Jonah Munroe, who appeared in What to Send Up When It Goes Down, will play Ronald.
Set design is by Bob Lavallee, with lighting design by Luke Atkison, costume design by Sarah Mosher, sound design by David Lanza, choreography, intimacy, and fight direction by Kelsey Milbourn, and props and set décor by Lynn Lovett. The production team also includes Production Stage Manager Tiffany Cromwell and Assistant Director Alejandro Saucedo.
Cruel Intentions: the ‘90s Musical will begin its run at Stage West with previews Thursday, May 4 at 7:30, Friday, May 5 at 8:00, and Saturday, May 6 at 3:00, and will run through Sunday, May 28. The opening night reception will be after the evening performance on Saturday, May 6. Performances will be Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays at 8:00, Saturdays at 3:00 and 8:00, and Sundays at 3:00. Masks are recommended, but not required. Ticket prices range from $40 to $60 for all performances. Food service is available 90 minutes prior to performances (reservations are advised). Reservations and information are available through the Box Office (817-784-9378), or on the website, www.stagewest.org.
