| The Last Night of Ballyhoo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Written by | Alfred Uhry |
| Characters | Sunny Freitag Adolph Freitag Lala Levy Boo Levy Peachy Weil Joe Farkas Reba Freitag |
| Date premiered | July 20, 1996 |
| Place premiered | Olympic Arts Festival Atlanta, Georgia |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Comedy/Drama |
| Setting | Atlanta, Georgia December 1939 |
The Last Night of Ballyhoo is a play by Alfred Uhry that premiered in 1996 in Atlanta. The play is a comedy/drama, which is set in Atlanta, Georgia, in December 1939.
The play is set in the upper class German-Jewish community living in Atlanta, Georgia in December 1939. Hitler has recently conquered Poland, Gone with the Wind is about to premiere, and Adolph Freitag (owner of the Dixie Bedding Company), his sister Boo, and sister-in-law Reba, along with nieces Lala and Sunny – a Jewish family so highly assimilated they have a Christmas tree in the front parlor – are looking forward to Ballyhoo, a lavish cotillion ball sponsored by their restrictive country club. Adolph's employee Joe Farkas is an attractive eligible bachelor and an Eastern European Jew, familiar with prejudice but unable to fathom its existence within his own religious community. His presence prompts college student Sunny to examine intra-ethnic bias, her Jewish identity (or lack thereof), and the beliefs with which she has been raised.
Boo Levy – Lala's mother, Sunny's aunt, and Adolph's sister. Her husband is dead, and she struggles with wanting her daughter to be socially successful. Boo is the main character driving the play's inter-Jewish racism. Described in cast of characters as 'Adolf's sister, a few years older.' [1]
Sunny Freitag – A junior at a well-to-do liberal arts college (Wellesley College), Sunny is interested in the works of Eugene V. Debs and Upton Sinclair. She struggles with her Jewish identity, but faces this through her relationship with Joe. It is unknown whether the end scene is a dream or a reality. Described in cast of characters as 'Reba's daughter, 20s.' [1]
Adolph Freitag – Adores Sunny, but has little tolerance for Lala. Adolph is a kind soul, who understands the good impact Joe has on the family. Described in cast of characters as 'a businessman, late 40s.' [1]
Lala Levy – Obsessed with 'Gone With The Wind.' Somewhat childish and awkward, Lala finally finds a husband in Peachy. Lala fights with her mother over their Jewish identity and her social status. Described in cast of characters as 'Boo's daughter, 20s.' [1]
Reba Freitag – Sister-in-law to Adolph and Boo. Reba is somewhat simple, but is more shrewd than others give her credit. Like the other characters, Reba is oblivious to what it means to be Jewish. Described in cast of characters as 'Adolf's sister-in-law, middle 40s.' [1]
Joe Farkas – Works for Adolph Freitag, and finds an intellectual match in Sunny. Challenges the family to reassess their ideas of identity and family. Described in cast of characters as 'Adolf's business assistant, 20s.' [1]
Peachy Weil – Finds a match in Lala. Known for his obnoxious behavior and outspokenness. Described in cast of characters as 'a visitor from Lake Charles, 20s.' [1]
Originally a series of vignettes, each featuring a different member family of the city's exclusive Standard Club, Ballyhoo was inspired by the playwright's childhood memories. In revising the play, Uhry opted to focus solely on the Freitags and expanded their storyline into two acts. Ballyhoo was commissioned by the Olympic Arts Festival for the 1996 Summer Olympics and was staged at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre that year. [2] [3] [4] The Atlanta cast included Terry Beaver as Adolph, Dana Ivey as Boo, Stephen Mailer as Joe, Jessalyn Gilsig as Sunny, Mary Bacon as Lala, Valerie Curtin as Aunt Reba, and Stephen Largay as Peachy Weil. (T. Beaver, D. Ivey, and S. Largay were the only cast members to transfer to Broadway.) [5]
The play opened on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre on February 27, 1997 and closed on June 28, 1998 after 556 performances. [6] Directed by Ron Lagomarsino, the original cast included Terry Beaver as Adolph, Dana Ivey as Boo, Paul Rudd as Joe, Arija Bareikis as Sunny, Jessica Hecht as Lala, Celia Weston as Aunt Reba, and Stephen Largay as Peachy Weil. [5] [6]
Replacements later in the run included Peter Michael Goetz as Adolph, [7] Kelly Bishop (in circa May 1998) [8] and Carole Shelley (as of August 26, 1997) as Boo, [9] Mark Feuerstein and Christopher Gartin as Joe, [7] Kimberly Williams as Sunny (as of August 26, 1997), [9] and Cynthia Nixon (as of August 26, 1997) [9] and Ilana Levine as Lala. [7] [10]
Ben Brantley of the New York Times observed, "Much of the gently barbed, idiosyncratic Southern humor recalls a vintage episode of the television sitcom Designing Women . . . Mr. Uhry's one previous play, Driving Miss Daisy . . . was a modest masterpiece of obliquely rendered sentimentality and social commentary. Here the author employs much more direct and conventional means that work more blatantly to elicit laughs and tears. Ballyhoo isn't a clumsy work; on its own terms, it's a model of old-fashioned tailoring. And Mr. Uhry has a fascinating and incendiary subject in the self-hatred implicit in the social stratifications among Southern Jews, particularly given that the play is set on the eve of World War II. But the context in which he couches it can feel very treacly . . . There's no doubting that Ballyhoo is a sincere, good-hearted work, but it almost never feels spontaneous. Despite its provocative subject, its form is the theatrical equivalent of comfort food, something for those who like their nostalgia repackaged in the guise of something new." [5]
Nathan Lane is an American actor. In a career spanning over 40 years he has been seen on stage and screen in roles both comedic and dramatic. Lane has received numerous awards including three Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, three Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Lane received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2010, The New York Times hailed Lane as "the greatest stage entertainer of the decade".
Joel Grey is an American actor, singer, dancer, photographer and theatre director. He is best known for portraying the Master of Ceremonies in the musical Cabaret on Broadway as well as in the 1972 film adaptation. He has won an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and a Golden Globe Award.
Hurlyburly is a dark comedy play by David Rabe, first staged in 1984. The title refers to dialogue from Shakespeare's Macbeth.
Carole "Kelly" Bishop is an American actress and dancer, best known for her roles as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the series Gilmore Girls and as Marjorie Houseman, the mother of Jennifer Grey's Frances "Baby" Houseman in the film Dirty Dancing. Bishop originated the role of Sheila in A Chorus Line, for which she won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. She also starred as Fanny Flowers in the ABC Family short-lived comedy-drama series Bunheads and is currently starring as Mrs. Ivey in The Watchful Eye (2023).
John Cullum is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in many stage musicals and dramas, including Shenandoah (1975) and On the Twentieth Century (1978), winning the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for each. In 1966 he gained his first Tony nomination as the lead in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, in which he introduced the title song, and more recently received Tony nominations for Urinetown The Musical (2002) and as Best Featured Actor in the revival of 110 in the Shade (2007).
Kimberly Payne Williams-Paisley is an American actress known for her co-starring roles on According to Jim and Nashville, as well as her breakthrough performance in Father of the Bride (1991), for which she was nominated for several awards, and its sequel, Father of the Bride Part II (1995). Throughout her acting career, she has guest-starred on TV shows including Tales from the Crypt, George Lopez and Less Than Perfect. She is also known for her roles in made-for-TV movies, including Safe House, The Christmas Shoes, and Lucky 7, and also her role as Laura Parker in Shade, a short film that she also wrote and directed. Williams is married to country musician Brad Paisley, with whom she has two sons; actress Ashley Williams is her sister.
Alfred Fox Uhry is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has received an Academy Award, two Tony Awards and the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for dramatic writing for Driving Miss Daisy. He is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers.
Parade is a musical with a book by Alfred Uhry and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The musical is a dramatization of the 1913 trial and imprisonment, and 1915 lynching, of Jewish American Leo Frank in Georgia.
Walter Bobbie is an American theatre director, choreographer, and occasional actor and dancer. Bobbie has directed both musicals and plays on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and was the Artistic Director of the New York City Center Encores! concert series. He directed the long-running revival of the musical Chicago.
William Ivey LongII is an American costume designer for stage and film. His most notable work includes the Broadway shows The Producers, Hairspray, Nine, Crazy for You, Grey Gardens, Young Frankenstein, Cinderella, Bullets Over Broadway and On the Twentieth Century.
Dana Robins Ivey is an American actress. She is a five-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway, and won the 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her work in both Sex and Longing and The Last Night of Ballyhoo. She originated the title role in Driving Miss Daisy and was nominated for a Drama Desk award for Best Actress in a Play. Her film appearances include The Color Purple (1985), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), The Addams Family (1991), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Addams Family Values (1993), Two Weeks Notice (2002), Rush Hour 3 (2007), and The Help (2011).
Kenny Leon is an American director, producer, actor, and author, notable for his work on Broadway, on television, and in regional theater. In 2014, he won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for A Raisin in the Sun.
John Tillinger is a theatre director and actor.
The 51st Annual Tony Awards was broadcast by CBS from Radio City Music Hall on June 1, 1997. "Launching the Tonys" was telecast on PBS television. The event was hosted by Rosie O'Donnell. The awards ceremony moved away from Broadway for the first time in 30 years. As Radio City Music Hall is much larger than any Broadway theater, this allowed members of the general public to attend the ceremony.
Driving Miss Daisy is a play by American playwright Alfred Uhry, about the relationship of an elderly Southern Jewish woman, Daisy Werthan, and her African-American chauffeur, Hoke Coleburn, from 1948 to 1973. The play was the first in Uhry's Atlanta Trilogy, which deals with Jewish residents of that city in the early 20th century. The play won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The Orphans' Home Cycle is a 3-play drama written by Horton Foote. Each of the three plays in the trilogy comprises three one-act plays. They are The Story of a Childhood, The Story of a Marriage, and The Story of a Family.
Brandon Jacob Uranowitz is an American stage and screen actor. He is best known for his roles as Adam Hochberg in the musical An American in Paris (2014–15) and Mendel Weisenbachfeld in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos. A four-time Tony Award nominee, he received nominations for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for these performances in addition to nominations for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performances in Burn This (2019) and Leopoldstadt (2022–23). His other Broadway credits include Baby, It's You! (2011), Prince of Broadway (2017), and The Band's Visit (2018).
Sam Gold is an American theater director and actor. He has directed both musicals and plays, on Broadway and Off-Broadway. He won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Fun Home.
Tuck Everlasting is a musical based upon the American children's novel Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. It features music by Chris Miller, lyrics by Nathan Tysen and a book by Claudia Shear and Tim Federle, with direction and choreography by Casey Nicholaw. The musical had its premiere at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2015. It began Broadway previews on March 31, 2016; and opened on April 26, 2016, at the Broadhurst Theatre, in New York City. The production closed on May 29, 2016, after 39 performances.
Jay Armstrong Johnson is an American actor, singer, and dancer, known for starring roles on Broadway in musicals like Parade, On the Town, and The Phantom of the Opera and for his portrayal of Will Olsen in the ABC television series Quantico.