It is Christmas, 1939, and the cream of Atlanta’s Jewish crop are preparing for the Jewish social event of the season, Ballyhoo.  Sure, World War II has just begun in Europe, but no one has time for that.  Ballyhoo approaches – and Lala needs a date.  But not just any date; he must be able to rub elbows with the social elite.  In short, he must fit in with “the right kind.”

The Last Night of Ballyhoo, a comic drama, is the story of intra-racial prejudice between German-Jewish Atlantans and “the other kind” – Jews of Eastern European decent.  Uhry’s play depicts the attempts of Southern Jews in the late ‘30s to assimilate with Southern Episcopalians.  In an effort to climb the social ladder in an exclusive Southern society, members of the affluent Jewish community abandoned their Jewish heritage to adopt gentile customs, such as Christmas trees and Easter egg hunts, and in turn their own brand of social snobbery.  In ...Ballyhoo, Uhry explores these themes by focusing on two young women of German-Jewish descent, Sunny and Lala, who take very different routes to romance.  Their romantic encounters tear a family apart and ultimately bring it back together again.

The play opens on the eve of Atlanta’s greatest social occasion, the opening of Gone With the Wind, an event that drew Clark Gable, Vivian Leigh and a host of visiting socialites to Atlanta.  All eyes turned toward the sleepy, Southern capitol. 

Coincidentally, The Last Night of Ballyhoo was commissioned to coincide with an event that drew international attention to Atlanta, the 1996 Olympic Games.  ...Ballyhoo, Uhry’s first play since 1986’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Driving Miss Daisy (the play also won a Tony Award and the screen adaptation won an Academy Award), was originally presented by Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre Company as part of the 1996 Olympic Arts Festival.  The show played to sold out houses and received unanimous critical praise before moving on to Broadway where it earned 1997’s Tony Award for Best Play and the 1997 Outer Critics Circle Award.

While pride, prejudice and the denial of one’s heritage are at the core of ...Ballyhoo, the story is at heart a love story, prompting one Atlanta critic to write “this irresistible love story bestows the gift of a truly, deeply, happy ending.” (Dan Hulbert, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Uhry explains, “What I try to do is write about these challenging themes through a love story.  It’s about things that seem fairly light-hearted.  But in all that, I try to get into really anti-Semitic feelings that some of these Jews on Habersham Road had.  To them, it was important to be as Southern and as white bread as you could be.”

Uhry wrote the screen adaptation for his play Driving Miss Daisy and the screenplays for Rich in Love and Mystic Pizza.

Don’t miss this special season opener, on stage September 4 – 27.  Call 375-HIPP (375-4477) to reserve your seats.