Jobsite Theater Kicks Off 2014-15 Season with THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO, Now thru 9/28

Jobsite begins their 2014-15 season in partnership with the Tampa Jewish Community Center and Federation and Alfred Uhry's award-winning The Last Night of Ballyhoo, playing today, September 3-28, 2014, in the Shimberg Playhouse at the Straz Center where Jobsite is resident theater company.

The Last Night of Ballyhoo was commissioned for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, and was subsequently produced on Broadway, where it won the 1997 Tony Award for Best Play. Its author, Alfred Uhry, previously won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Driving Miss Daisy, as well as an Academy Award for the screenplay -- the only playwright ever to win all three awards.

The play takes place during December, 1939. Gone with the Wind is about to premiere on the big screen and Hitler is marching on Poland. Adolph Freitag, his sister Boo, and nieces Lala and Sunny -- a Jewish family so highly assimilated they have a Christmas tree in the front parlor -- are obsessed with preparing for Ballyhoo, a lavish cotillion ball sponsored by their elite country club. Adolph's employee Joe Farkas is an eligible bachelor and an Eastern European Jew down from Brooklyn, 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's been raised. The family gets pulled apart and mended back together with plenty of comedy, romance, and unexpected revelations along the way.

Directed by acclaimed bay area performer, professor and A Simple Theater Artistic Director Gavin Hawk and starring Ned Averill-Snell, Ami Sallee, Suzy Devore, Katie Castonguay, Emily Belvo, Nathan Jokela and Jordan Foote, The Last Night of Ballyhoo showcases designs from Beth Tepe-Robertson (costumes), Kaylin Gess (lights), and Brian Smallheer (set).

This is the second collaboration between the JCC and Jobsite, the two organizations previously partnered on the spring 2013 performance of Wendy Graf's Behind the Gates. As part of this partnership, a series of public forums will be held to discuss themes within and inspired by the play, not limited to Tampa's Jewish community but inclusive of the greater community at large. Information on those forums as well as the private grand opening night performance hosted by the JCC will be made available soon.

The Last Night of Ballyhoo opens to the general public on Sept. 5 and runs through Sept. 28, 2014. Thu., Sept. 4 is a special private grand opening night hosted by the Tampa Jewish Community Center and Federation. All tickets to public performances are $28. Rush tickets for students, seniors, military and Theatre Tampa Bay members are $14 and are available as of 30 minutes prior to curtain with cash and valid ID at the Straz Ticket Office window. Rush tickets are subject to availability. A special preview performance will be held on Sept. 3, with all tickets available in advance for $14. Jobsite also has 2014-15 season tickets on sale now at a substantially reduced price than that of individual tickets.

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