LANSING –
The BoarsHead Theater Dark Night Series will present a special summer production of Alfred Uhry's "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" at 7 p.m. June 21-22, 28-29. The Dark Night Series is produced by the BoarsHead Second Company of Professional Interns. "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" is a touching and witty romantic comedy from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Driving Miss Daisy."
Set in December of 1939 in Atlanta, "Ballyhoo" tells the story of the Freitag family – a wealthy, German Jewish, Southern family. "Gone With the Wind" is opening and Hitler is invading Poland, but Boo Levy is most concerned about her daughter Lala's prospects of getting a good date to the last night of Ballyhoo – a formal dance attended by all the "best" Jewish families in the South.
When Uncle Adolph brings his newest employee, Joe Farkas from Brooklyn, home for dinner, tensions mount. As Joe courts Adolph's other niece Sunny, Boo struggles to ensure her own daughter's future. The characters explore themes of family, discrimination, and what it means to be Jewish in America as Ballyhoo nears.
Second Company member EllaRose Chary is staying on an extra month at BoarsHead to spearhead the production and play Lala. A longtime lover of this play by her fellow Brown University graduate Alfred Uhry, Chary has been raising outside funds to add to the traditionally small budgets of Dark Nights.
This will allow opportunities not usually afforded to past Dark Night productions. Directing the production is MSU Graduate Student, Lynn Lammers. Lammers is currently working toward a Masters Degree in Theatre, and this is her first production at BoarsHead. She has directed at Williamston Theatre, MSU, and is the Artistic Director of MSU's Transforming Theatre Ensemble.
"The Last Night of Ballyhoo" opened on Broadway in 1997, where it won the Tony Award for Best Play. It is part of a trilogy of plays written by Uhry exploring themes of Judaism in the South. The trilogy includes his highly-acclaimed play-turned-movie "Driving Miss Daisy," which is part of the BoarsHead 2008-2009 season.
Tickets are a suggested $5 donation at the door.
Boarshead presents special summer production of "The Last Night of Ballyhoo"
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