Review: Charming Yet Meaningful THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO From Paradox Players

Alfred Uhry's second play, THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO, is a Tony award winner for Best Play that is another exploration into the lives of Jewish southerners. Uhry first introduced this society in his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Driving Miss Daisy. The setting and plot was developed from his own experiences growing up in a southern Jewish family, as well as from stories he heard as a child. The Ballyhoo of the title is a sort of German-Jewish debutante ball. At heart a humorous look back at a time long gone, the play is also an exploration of Jewish identity and the power of prejudice inflicted on Jews by other Jews. Uhry has deftly interwoven this theme into his story of the privileged world of the Levy / Freitag families. The Levy / Freitag families live in a big home in one of Atlanta's finest neighborhoods. They belong to an elite country club. Their daughters attend prestigious private schools. Even a Christmas tree in their window, however, doesn't change the fact that they are Jews living in a mostly Christian society. German-Jews such as the Levys and Freitags look down on "the other kind", which are the Eastern European Jews. While exploring the self hatred and class consciousness of anti-Semitism, Uhry's serious message is beautifully wrapped in witty banter, comedic moments, and colorfully comedic characters and characterizations.

THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO begins in 1939 in Atlanta, Georgia, on the afternoon of the premiere of Gone With the Wind. In the living room of the Freitag/Levy home, Lala (Frances Bello) is decorating the Christmas tree while Boo (Katherine Schroeder) pressures her into calling Peachy Weil (Porter Gandy) to get a date for Ballyhoo. It seems Boo is consumed with worry because Lala is both unmarried and unpopular. Reba (Miriam Rubin) confesses that her daughter Sunny (Chelsea Beth) does not have a date for Ballyhoo either. While the sisters-in-law are talking about their children, Adolph (Craig Kanne) comes home. He tells them he has invited Joe Farkas (Will Douglas), his new employee, home for supper. When Joe arrives, Boo is annoyed not only by the fact that she hasn't been told Joe is now working for the family company, but also by the fact that Joe is clearly "the other kind" of Jew. Seeing him as a potential escort to Ballyhoo, Lala suggests that Joe attend the movie premiere with her that evening. When the conversation shifts to Joe's family and whether he will go home for Christmas, he explains that his family doesn't celebrate Christmas, but says he will be going home for Passover. In their quest to assimilate into the prevalent culture, the Levys don't celebrate Passover. Boo relates the story of how they went to Passover one year when Lala was in fifth grade, but Lala found it to be boring. Joe is obviously appalled by the families willingness to suppress their own culture. When Lala again suggests that Joe and she go downtown, Joe makes an excuse about having to catch a train early the next morning. While on the train, Joe meets Sunny and is immediately smitten. The question now is which girl will go to Ballyhoo and who will her escort be.

Karen Jambon has directed this with a light hand, wisely choosing to focus on the character portrayals. The costumes by Suzy Gallagher are nice, however there are a few things clearly not of period. The same discrepancy also is seen in some set dressing and props, but it none of this is enough to pull you out of the action.

The cast is uniformly quite good. Each performer has honed in on a believable characterization. Frances Bello is charming as the flighty Lala. Miriam Rubin is hilarious as the ditzy Reba, especially in those moments where she reveals is smarter than she lets people assume. Katherine Schroeder mines the shrewish nature of Boo, showing us the ugly anti-Semitic nature of the character while not sacrificing the humor in her lines. Craig Kanne is delightful as Adolph, with his portrayal of a man who has learned to let life roll off his back. Will Douglas does a fine job with Joe, handling the moments of conflict for his character with ease. Chelsea Beth is endearing as Sunny, especially in the scenes where she describes how it feels to be Jewish in a Christian world. Porter Gandy gives a great performance as Peachy, managing to be both likeable and a bit of a jackass.

While not as powerful as Driving Miss Daisy, THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO is still a sweet look back at a time long gone that has been done with style and grace by Paradox Players. It is well worth a visit to experience a charming, yet meaningful, look backward.

THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO by Alfred Uhry

Running time: Approximately Two Hours and Ten Minutes including intermission.

THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO, produced by Paradox Players at Howson Hall in First Unitarian Universalist Church (4700 Grover Ave., Austin, Tx.)

Oct. 21 - Nov. 6, 2016

Fridays & Saturdays 8:00 p.m., Sundays 3:00 pm.

Tickets $15, $10 Seniors, Students and groups of 10 or more

Reservations

Call (512) 744-1495 or visit paradoxplayers.org

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