Alfred Uhry's "The Last Night of Ballyhoo"
opens the JET season with its Midwest premiere.

daughter) comes home
around Ballyhoo, Atlanta's annual
from winter break at
holiday ball and the culmination of a
Special to The Jewish News
Wellesley College. Their
three-day round of festivities attend-
longtime rivalry contin-
ed by young,_upper-crust Southern
hen Alfred Uhry writes
ues as they vie-for the
Jewish
society.
For
these
Atlantans,
a play, he likes to draw
attention of Joe Farkas,
-fir -
news
of
Germany's
rampant
anti-
upon his own life expe-
a
good-looking
obser-
Semitism and persecution of Euro-
riences. That's why
vant Jew from Brook-
pean Jews took a back seat to this
Uhry's Tony-winning play, The Last
lyn, N.Y., who has
prestigious gala.
self a doctor; there were no
Night of Ballyhoo, is set in Atlanta,
come to town to work in his family's
The
story
centers
around
Adolph
yarmulkes
nor a cantor."
his hometown, and is about disasso-
business. He is proud of his religion
Freitag,
his
sister
Boo
and
sister-in-
Uhry's
first
hit play, Driving Miss
ciated Jews trying to assimilate into
law Reba Freitag, all of whom share a and heritage.
Daisy, also reflected his life and
Southern culture — the playwright's
Throughout the play, Uhry
home in an exclusive Christian
brought him a Pulitzer Prize. "Miss
own family's personal struggle.
explores issues of
neighborhood.
They
are
Daisy was about my grandmother, a
Now, after a successful run on
Jewish self-hatred,
the
only
Jews
on
the
Southern Jewish widow and her
Broadway, The Last Night of Ballyhoo
accepting one's
block,
and
their
home
is
black driver," notes Uhry, whose
will be performed at the Jewish
own ethnicity and
adorned
with
a
Christmas
father owned - a furniture business.
Ensemble Theatre (JET) in West
the snobbery
"It's based on my mother's mother.
tree.
Bloomfield Oct. 14-Nov. 15 as the
aimed at Jews
Boo's
22-year-old
(Her name was Lena Fox and she
•
decade-old theater group's season
whom other Jews
socially
backward
daugh-
died at age 95 in 1973.)
opener.
believe are socially
ter, Lala, leaves the Uni-
"I was lucky. Driving Miss Daisy
"The Last Night at Ballyhoo is my
inferior.
versity
of
Michigan
and
was
born with this light around it —
family's story," says Uhry, who is
Describing his
moves
back
home
with
her
it
got
picked up immediately and
unable to be in Detroit for the Mid-
family back-
mother
and
extended
fam-
went
on
to become a very successful
west premiere of his play. "Some of it
ground, Uhry says,
ily.
Enamored
with
Holly-
movie
(winning
the 1989 Oscar for •
is my parents' love story."
"There was a
Gone
With
The
wood,
Best
Picture).
in
1996,
Uhry wrote Ballyhoo
whole healthy Jew-
"The 20 years before that were the
Wind and the
when he was commissioned by the
ish life going on in
upcoming ball,
hard times."
Cultural Olympiad to write a play
Atlanta then, but
Those hard times began after the
Lala tries to
for the 1996 Olympics. He wanted
my German-Jewish
playwright
graduated from Brown
land
a
date
to set the scene during the last time
family just wasn't
University
with
a degree in English
for
Bally-
Atlanta was in the spotlight — in
aware of it. The
Alfred
Uhry:
The
only
play-
literature
in
1958.
He chose not to
hoo.
1939 when the movie Gone With The
German-Jewish
wright to win the writer's
Trou-
return
to
Atlanta.
Wind had just been released.
population was
triple crown — the Pulitzer,
Heading to New York, he taught
ble brews
"It was a time when the Jews were
small. There was a
the
Oscar
and
the
Tony.
school
there and then tried to make a
when
assimilating on the one hand, and on
temple that was
living working as a lyricist on musi-
Lala's
the other hand, Hitler was invading
just called The
cals at the Goodspeed Opera House
pretty,
Poland. It all seemed like a rich field
Temple — it had
in Connecticut. "The folks there
blond
to write about. I was just a baby
no Hebrew name
always needed revisions," says Uhry.
cousin
then, but there were still traces of
associated with it.
Sunny
Fre-
One of his successes, The Robber
Jews not wanting to be Jewish."
The rabbi called him-
itag
(Reba's
The comedy-drama is centered

ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER

lipr

.

10/9

1998

88 Detroit Jewish News