Guest-director Susan Gregg directed a production of Alfred Uhry's award-winning classic, "Driving Miss Daisy," several years ago, with the title role played by Darrie Lawrence.
As an indication of the kind of path-crossing that goes on in regional theater, Gregg - who is directing Pioneer Theatre Com-pany's upcoming regional premiere of Uhry's "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" - has previously guided two others in the current PTC cast as well: Robert Elliott and Sherry Skinky."And the guy who played the lead in `The Count of Monte Cristo' - John Rensenhouse - works for us a lot," Gregg said ("us" being the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, where she is associate artistic director).
Gregg became acquainted with PTC Artistic Director Charles Morey when she was involved in productions of his scripts for "Dracula" and "The Three Musketeers" a few years ago.
"It's a pretty small circle out there," she said, referring to the actors and directors involved in regional theater across the country.
"The Last Night of Ballyhoo" will play Dec. 2-19 on the Lees Main Stage of the Roy W. and Elizabeth E. Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre building, on the University of Utah campus.
The recent Uhry work addresses some of the same issues as "Driving Miss Daisy," said Gregg. "When you read it, it seems slight, but when you get into rehearsal, there's this rich texture. For me, it's coming out more in the world of `You Can't Take It With You,' and it's exciting to see this play get better and better."
New York-based actress Michelle Six - who just finished playing Valentine deVillefort in "Monte Cristo," and who played Bianca in "The Taming of the Shrew" and Diana/Isbel in "All's Well That Ends Well" at this past summer's Utah Shakespearean Festival - notes that Uhry's script "is an easy read.
"It reads more like a novel, but it contains beautiful characters. Not one character feels like a caricature. Every one is real and fully realized, which makes for good theater because that's what we are.
"The director is really a brilliant woman. She's dissected all the facets of the play and has really created a very vivid world on stage, and made it easier for the actors to perform in that world."
Six said the crux of "Ballyhoo" is the quest for personal identity and how society looks at cultural and spiritual stereotypes.
She is also impressed with Utah theatergoers. "Every night we were amazed at the audiences," Six said - referring to both the Shakespearean festival and PTC's "Monte Cristo." "I think in New York City, audiences are a little more snobbish, but there's a wonderful feeling here that the audience is interested in the message of the play, and they're not just sitting there wishing they were at home watching TV."
Six, who grew up in the Palo Alto area and graduated from the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, noted that the same cast will perform "Ballyhoo" in St. Louis in February, following a break for the holidays.
The story focuses on life in the Frietag household in Atlanta on the eve of the world premiere of "Gone With the Wind" in 1939 . . . and Ballyhoo, a debutante ball for the South's elite Jewish families.
The all-Equity cast includes Robert Elliott as Uncle Adolf; Darrie Lawrence as Boo Levy, his older, widowed sister; and Sherry Skinker as Reba Frietag, their widowed sister-in-law.
Lawrence was last seen here in PTC's production of "Lettice and Lovage."
Mandy Fox and Michelle Six portray first cousins Lala Levy and Sunny Frietag, who are caught up in the excitement of the social event of the season for the cream of Southern Jewish society. Boo's daughter, Lala is a college dropout, while Reba's daughter, Sunny, is an intellectual A-student, home for the holidays from Boston's Wellesly College.
Harry Bouvy, who performed at the Utah Shakespearean Festival in 1990 and '93, portrays Joe Farkas, a brash young Brooklyn boy who hits it off with Sunny. Jordan Matter is Sylvan "Peachy" Weil, an eligible bachelor from a good Louisiana family.
"This play is almost autobiographical," said Gregg, "There was some amount of distress in Atlanta when people saw themselves on stage there."
Guest designer Rob Odorisio, who designed "Sweeney Todd" and "The Pirated Penzance" for PTC, was associate designer for the Broadway and Los Angeles productions of "Ballyhoo." Jamie Scott is making his PTC debut as costume designer, with Mary Louise Geiger as lighting designer, and resident artist Cynthia L. McCourt as hair/makeup designer.
- PERFORMANCES will be at 7:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, and 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Dec. 2-19, with Saturday matinees at 2 p.m. All seating is reserved. Tickets range from $15 to $33. Group discounts are available for 20 or more. Special discounts are also available for U. students. For reservations, call 581-6961. Pioneer Memorial Theatre is located at 300 S. 1400 East.