Boca Stage's THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO to Open at the Delray Beach Playhouse in October

Boca Stage’s second production of the 2024-2025 season will be The Last Night of Ballyhoo by Pulitzer Prize/Tony Award/and Academy Award-winning playwright Alfred Uhry. The production will run from October 24th to November 3rd in the Cabaret Theatre at the Delray Beach Playhouse.

“The Last Night of Ballyhoo is the second of playwright Alfred Uhry’s ‘Atlanta Trilogy’ which, although it follows Driving Miss Daisy, takes place twenty-five years earlier as World War II is just on the horizon and Gone with the Wind is about to become a movie sensation,” the production’s director Keith Garsson explains.  (The third work in the trilogy, the musical Parade, recently enjoyed a successful revival on Broadway).

“In both Daisy and Ballyhoo Uhry gives us characters who share a common experience of alienation yet cannot communicate with each other”, Garsson continues.

“Ballyhoo, told on a larger canvas, flips the traditional story of the assimilation of twentieth-century American Jews on its head,” he says. “Instead of the humorous Neil Simon tales of woe, neuroses, and insecurities in New York City, Ballyhoo tells a much darker story with more serious themes of identity.

“The German Jews of this story settled in Atlanta and became successful business folks. Yet, unlike their New York counterparts who continued to embrace their religion, the protagonists of Ballyhoo slowly shed their own backgrounds as they longed for acceptance in the upper crust of Southern society. Although the play may be seen as a search for identity, it is also by turns humorous, touching, and fascinating.

“We’ve all been outsiders at some point in our lives and Ballyhoo masterfully balances the sometimes-painful journey of a family that is forced to finally decide who they want to be.”

Director Garsson’s talented cast includes Hannah Hayley as Lala, Liz DeBeer as Reba, Betty Ann Hunt Strain as Boo, Shane Tanner as Adolph, Alex Bakalarz as Joe, Rachel Whittington as Sunny, and Christian Cooper as Peachy.

The Stage Manager for The Last Night of Ballyhoo is Joseph Long.  The production’s Technical Director is Christian Taylor, Set Design is by Claudia Smith, Lighting Design is by Stevie Bleich, Sound Design is by David Hart, Costume Design is by Timothy Charles Bowman, and Jeff Davis will take care of Set Construction. 

Tickets for The Last Night of Ballyhoo are on sale now. They range in price from $59 to $69 and are available online at delraybeachplayhouse.com or by calling 561-272-1281. Performances are on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7 pm, and on Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm. All performances will take place at the Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th Street, Delray Beach (33444)

The Delray Beach Playhouse is located at 950 NW 9th Street, in Delray Beach, 33444. (561-272-1281).  For more information about the Playhouse, visit https://delraybeachplayhouse.com.

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