Joel Paley, a dancer, playwright and director who wrote the book and lyrics for “Ruthless!,” an award-winning Off-Broadway musical about an ambitious girls who will do anything — including murder her rival — to star in a grade school snow, died on Jan. 11 in Milford, CT. He was 69.

“Ruthless!” won the 1992 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical and the Drama Desk Award  for Mr. Paley’s lyrics. The musical has been performed hundreds of times around the world. When the show was revived Off-Broadway in 2015, Mr. Paley briefly stepped in to several parts to sub for ailing actors.