THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO by Alfred Uhry, Lees Main Stage, Roy W. and Elizabeth E. Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre building, University of Utah campus (300 S. 1400 East); directed by Susan Gregg. Continues Mondays-Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 & 8 p.m. through Dec. 19. All seats reserved. Tickets: $15 to $33. Box office: 581-6961. Group and U. student discounts available. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes (one intermission).
Amid the hustle and bustle of the holiday season (and the traffic . . . the shopping . . . the I-15 barricades . . . ) it's nice to have a gentle (or maybe genteel -- but not "gentile") comedy such as Alfred Uhry's "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" to take you back to a less hectic time.Sort of.
It's December 1939 in the Freitag household in Atlanta, Ga.
University of Michigan dropout Lala Levy is swooning over Clark Gable being less than five miles away from her family's very house for the world premiere of "Gone With the Wind."
Her widowed mother, Boo Levy, is wringing her hands over whether or not Lala will get a date for the gala Jewish soiree that's the traditional finale for the last night of Ballyhoo, a celebration for only the "right kind" of Jewish families.
Lala's Aunt Reba (who was married to Boo's late brother) spends her time knitting . . . and making dour remarks.
Reba's daughter, Sunny Freitag ("She was born on a stormy day and we couldn't very well name her Cloudy, could we?"), a bright and dedicated student home for the holidays from Wellesley College, is smitten by a handsome -- and very Jewish -- young lad, Joe Farkas, who works for her uncle, Adolph Freitag.
Adolph is, for now, the sole male in the family, content to read his newspaper and stay out of the kitchen.
Lala's chance for romance picks up when obnoxious but likeable prankster Sylvan "Peachy" Weil bursts in from Louisiana.
Deftly directed by guest-artist Susan Gregg, the all-Equity cast includes Michelle Six and Mandy Fox as cousins Sunny and Lala, Sherry Skinker and Darrie Lawrence as sisters-in-law Reba and Boo, Harry Bouvy and Jordan Matter as prospective beaus Joe and Peachy, and Robert Elliot as Uncle Adolph.
"Ballyhoo" is more than just a comedy about finagling dates to a debutante ball. It's a pleasant glimpse at a Jewish family in days gone by, when Clark Gable wasn't the only name in the news. Hitler was making headlines, too, in central Europe.
Uhry's insightful dialogue digs into Jewish feelings about identity. Joe Farkas, from deep in the heart of Brooklyn, doesn't quite know what to make of the Freitags. Are they ashamed of their roots? Would they rather be Episcopalians?
There are more changes under way in the Freitags' splendid home than merely the star being replaced by a nonreligious decoration atop the Christmas tree (or, as Peachy puts it, "Hey, nice Hannakuh bush!").
"Sorry I'm a klutz," an embarrassed Joe notes, after accidentally ripping Lala's ballroom gown ("Well . . . if it isn't Scarlet O'Goldberg," is Uncle Adolph's reaction when Lala makes her grand entrance on the spiral staircase).
"Klutz . . . is that Yiddish?" asks Sunny.
"It's not Norwegian," Joe replies.
Roy Odorisio's sumptuous set could have graced the cover of a Southern Living magazine, circa 1939. James Scott's costuming, Mary Louise Geiger's lighting, Cynthia L. McCourt's hair and makeup designs and Robert Waldman's incidental background music are equally first-rate.
It matters not a whit "what kind" of person you are -- you'll undoubtedly be moved by Uhry's social comedy.