Tony Award winner Lena Hall (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) has been cast to lead an invite only reading of the upcoming of the new musical adaptation of Citizen Ruth. The new musical is based on the 1996 Miramax film of the same name, starring Laura Dern and Burt Reynolds. The plot centers around a young drug addicted woman who finds herself arrested and pregnant. Ruth is than ordered to have an abortion or face serious jail time. Check out the report below for more details.
Press notes for Citizen Ruth offer details about the plot, reading (via Playbill):
 ”Ruth Stoops, a homeless huffer, lands in jail (again), where she learns she is pregnant (again). After the judge offers to go easy on her if she will get an abortion, Ruth finds herself in a pickle. A desperate jail-cell prayer is apparently answered when she's taken in by Norm and Gail Stoney, pro-life Christians with the local Babysavers chapter. Things go swimmingly until Ruth gets high and hits their young son. Another Babysaver, Diane, comes to the rescue, agreeing to take Ruth for a while. Turns out though, that Diane is a radical feminist lesbian in disguise, and she and her lover, Rachel, have their own agenda. Events soon spiral out of control, and the debate over Ruth and her pregnancy becomes national. Our heroine, meanwhile—crass, addicted, unloved and (almost) unlovable—gets lost in the shuffle. But Ruth has the last laugh....”
The rest of the cast for the reading includes Janet Dickinson, Laurie Wells, Julia Murney, Pearl Sun, Emily Walton, Duke Lafoon, Jason ‘ST’ Williams, Dennis Stowe, Kevin Zak, Alex Wyse and Kevin Ligon.
The reading will take place on March 10 in Manhattan and is expected to be followed by an Off-Broadway production.
Citizen Ruth the musical is written by Mark Leydorf (book/lyrics) and Michael Brennan (music) and is based on the film by Alexander Payne (writer/director) and Jim Taylor (co-writer).
