DANVILLE — An all-woman cast is nothing new for Danville Light Opera. The community theater group’s “Ruthless! The Musical,” which debuts Feb. 15, may be all female, but any similarity to DLO’s previous single gender shows ends there.

In other words, “Ruthless!” is no “Nunsense.”

The group’s 2007-08 season kicked off this fall with “Jekyll & Hyde” and will end with ”The Music Man” in April.

Sandwiched in between those two is DLO’s annual dinner theater performance, but there’s a difference here, too. This year marks the group’s debut in the recently renovated Bremer Conference Center at Danville Area Community College. What’s Cooking will prepare the meal.

It’s the plot of “Ruthless!” that should really stick to audience members’ ribs. The story follows an 8-year-old actress who would kill to get the part she wants in her school play.

In fact, she does.

Picture a young Britney Spears playing the role. She almost did — the beleaguered singer was the understudy for the part during the play’s first run off-Broadway.

In the DLO production, the far-from-Spears-esque Bailey Williams plays an obsessed child actress.

“Acting and singing go along with my family,” the Edison School fifth-grader said. “It’s a long tradition with us.”

Bailey’s parents and four older siblings have all appeared in school, community theater and church productions. She has, too, especially in DLO children’s shows, but this is her first part in an adult musical.

“There are only three other kids in it,” she said. “I’ve met a ton of people and I’ve had tons of fun. It’s been a great experience.”

She named “action, comedy, rivalry and sadness, especially in the songs” as among the things she enjoyed most about this show.

Despite Bailey’s praise for the musical and the cast, neither she nor “Ruthless!” director John Dowers thinks youngsters her age should attend the show.

“We don’t recommend it to those under high school age due to the subject matter,” Dowers said.

Dowers works as office manager at Commercial-News.

Linda Dew, a recent transplant to Champaign from the Chicago suburbs, makes her DLO debut in “Ruthless!” She saw online the audition notice for the show. Dew said she was eager for an opportunity to perform in the area after years of acting and directing music in the Chicago suburbs.

“I didn’t know the show before,” Dew said, “but I know that people with any knowledge of theater will enjoy it.

“It reminds me of ‘(Do) Black Patent Leather Shoes (Really Reflect Up?’). It has broad appeal.”

Dew plays a disenchanted music critic, Lita Encore, in “Ruthless!” One of her character’s songs has the line “I hate musicals,” which hints the entire show’s outrageous tone.

Betty Grove worked with the actors on their music during weeks of rehearsals and also will accompany them in the show. A Danville music scene fixture for more than 30 years, Grove now teaches music at Meade Park Elementary School.

She estimated that she’s played piano for close to two dozen adult shows during that time. “I’ve been on a little hiatus,” she said, “but this is a fun show to come back with.

“(‘Ruthless!’) is an interesting show. I wasn’t familiar with it before.

“I’d call it a drama with musical support,” she said. “The music is interesting … the audience will get caught up in it.

“There are extremely talented people in this show,” Grove said. “They’re willing to work hard and they take suggestions well.

“And John (Dowers) is an excellent director,” she added.

IF YOU GO

Danville Light Opera presents “Ruthless! The Musical” Feb. 15-17 at Danville Area Community College’s Bremer Center.

Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 15 and 16 and at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 17 with the performances immediately following dinner. Tickets are $28 for adults and $22 for students. Dinner will be prepared by What’s Cooking.

Reservations for “Ruthless” can be made by calling the DLO box office 431-1660 or by stopping by DLO’s Center Stage Rehearsal Hall in the Village Mall during box office hours: 2-4 p.m.Sunday or 7-9 p.m. Monday and Wednesday.