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Decker:
The Utah State Theatre Arts Department on Thursday opened its
first play for this semester, and if this play signifies the department's
talent thus far then viewers should look forward to the rest of
the season.
The Last Night of Ballyhoo, written by Alfred Uhry and
directed by Kirstie Rosenfield, is worth seeing. The scene is
Atlanta in December 1939 and primarily takes place in the Jewish
home of Adolph Freitag, (played by Ron King) a middle-aged bachelor
who shares his lodgings with three women: his sister-in-law Reba
Freitag (Sage Davis), Boo Levy (Kathryn Moss) and her daughter
Lala Levy, (Erica Stoddard).
The conflict deals with Jewish tradition and the lack of it.
The awkwardness comes with Joe Farkas (Cory Castillo), a young
man who is hired by Adolph. Adolph runs the family business. Joe,
a devout Jew, slowly discovers the discrepancies in the Freitag
family and their way of almost forgetting their family background.
He sees the understated sense of inequality between himself and
German Jews. He also falls for Reba's daughter, Sunny Freitag
(Annette Pyne) who is visiting from college.
The focus of conversation revolves around a large party called
Ballyhoo that all the "standard" Jews, such as the Freitags, attend.
They have a club of their own and Joe begins to learn that there
is an invisible barrier between his traditional devotion and their
ignorance of their heritage.
Lala is a silly girl with crazy, short-lived plans and childish
tantrums. After attending college for a short while she returned
to live with her mother who constantly nags her and fears that
Lala won't get married. Throughout the play she is trying to get
Lala to call Peachy Weil (David Nickle) to see if he is going
to take Lala to Ballyhoo.
All of the actors did a great job, especially for opening night.
There was some tension at the beginning that quickly dissolved
and as the actors became more at ease with their characters the
play got funnier.
Reba (Davis), added a lot of comic relief with her senseless
wonderment at most things and her open acceptance of everyone
around her.
The set was well done and scenes outside of the living room
setting were imaginatively created. The lighting effects were
good.
Costumes set the right mood for the characters and time, and
the music between scenes kept that mood alive throughout the play.
The actors did pretty well with their Southern accent and Joe
with his New York accent. The dances were also well choreographed.
Students can get a free ticket with their student I.D. card.
Tickets for adults are $8, for USU faculty, staff and senior citizens
they are $6 and for youth under 18 and non-USU students $5. The
Last Night of Ballyhoo runs through Saturday and Nov. 1-4.
It starts at 7:30 and is in the Morgan Theater.
Other
upcoming plays to watch for this semester are As You Like It,
presented by actors from the London Stage on Nov. 7, 10, 11 and
You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, written by Clark Gesner
and directed by Kevin Doyle, on Nov. 30 through Dec. 2, and Dec.
6-9.
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Larson:
The Utah State Theatre started its season with an A-minus performance
of The Last Night of Ballyhoo, by Alfred Uhry in the Morgan
Theatre.
According to the preview, it received the 1997 Tony Award for
Best Play.
The actors in this production did the award justice with a few
minor slips that can be expected on an opening night. The Georgia
accents in the opening scene sounded forced, and the emotions
portrayed lacked depth until about three-quarters of the way through.
The story line focuses on the Freitag/Levy family who, as the
play progresses, are forced to re-evaluate their situation as
Jews in their opulent society.
The character Sunny Freitag, played by Annette Pyne, summarized
their attitude best when she said, "It's all we wanted to
be like everyone else."
The family are members of the upper crust Atlanta society, but
are partially rejected because they are Jewish. To fit in, they
disassociate themselves with much of their traditional heritage
and look at Orthodox Jews at the "other kind."
This is illustrated well in the scenery with the Christmas tree
in their lavish front room with marble pillars by the front door.
Their style of dress is modern for the time period.
The designers for this production did an exquisite job matching
everything with the correct era and creating atmosphere.
The family transformation takes place during Ballyhoo, the event
of the year for well-to-do Jews. Everyone who is anyone is invited
to Ballyhoo. This of course excludes those who live on the "tacky
side of the street," as the character Lala Levy, played by
Erica Stoddard, said.
Into the Ballyhoo preseason steps Joe Farkas, played by Cory
Castillo. Joe is from New York, and definitely classifies as one
of the "other kind" of Jews whom Boo Levy, played by
Kathryn Moss, detests.
Joe and Sunny enjoy a pleasant romance until Joe realizes what
he has stepped into. As Joe puts it, these Atlanta Jews are "Jew
haters" just as much as the persecutors he had to deal with
openly in New York.
This play illustrates the struggle for identity of the American
Jew during this period of history surrounding World War II.
The dance scene depicting the two distinct cultures was a marked
and impressive deciding point. In a dream-like state Sunny waltzes
in a crowd of friends only to find herself surrounded by the "other
kind," to which Joe is a part.
The entire performance was laced with wit and sarcasm. The audience
was appreciative at first but laughed openly as the production
continued. The actors timing and motivation throughout was wonderful.
It didn't have a dull moment.
Moss' performance was especially well done. She played with
the audience's emotions so well, that by the end of the night
she was the most despised character on stage.
Castillo's energy must also be commended. He was a breath of
fresh air each time he entered the scene. He was perfect for the
role of Joe, who is the catalyst for the family's change of heart.
Pyne and Stoddard also performed the contrasting roles of Sunny
and Lala very well.
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