he Summit Playhouse is delighted to announce the second production of its 2014 season, 'The Last Night of Ballyhoo''. Open auditions will be held on Thursday, November 21st at 7pm and Saturday, November 23rd at 4pm at the Playhouse, 10 New England Avenue in Summit, NJ. Callbacks will be held on Saturday, November 30th at 4pm. Production dates are February 21st and March 9th. Rehearsals begin the first week of January.
"The Last Night of Ballyhoo," is a wildly popular, humorous, and poignant examination of Southern Jewish culture. The play was written by Alfred Uhry, who also wrote "Driving Miss Daisy." It is set in an upper class German-Jewish community in Atlanta, Georgia in December of 1939, while "Gone with the Wind" storms the silver screen with the cast in town for its world premiere. News of Hitler invading Poland is all over the radio.
The well-to-do Freitag and Levy families are part of such a small minority that they have lost their Jewish identity. Yet they still chafe at the bigotry of the community that denies them admission into the South's high society. Their own version is the annual Ballyhoo cotillion, where they can take out their frustration by discriminating against "the other kind" - a reference to Jews of Eastern European extraction, more recently arrived, more religious, and more obviously ethnic.
A handsome newcomer from Brooklyn, New York arrives and brings comic drama, sweet romance and unexpected turns along with him. "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" proves that a play can cause us to think and explore profound themes while also making us laugh.
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Broadway Play, Alfred Uhry is the first American playwright to win the "Triple Crown" of dramatic writing: Tony Award (2), an Oscar, and a Pulitzer Prize.
Director Sherrie Ahlin requests that actors be familiar with the script. She is seeking seven actors to fill the major roles [three males and four females]. Auditions will start with cold readings from sides provided in small groups. To access sides prior to the auditions, please visit our website at: www.summitplayhouse.org.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
Adolf Freitag
Never married, Adolf Freitag is owner of Dixie Bedding and former president of The Standard Club. He is at once welcoming and open with new employee, Joe Farkas; brutally caustic with widowed sister, Boo Levy, and sentimental and loving with favorite niece, Sunny.
Boo Levy
Boo is a force of nature. Keenly aware of social status, and unsatisfied with her own fate, she relentlessly pushes her daughter into a relationship with a young man from
a suitable Southern family. Depending on who she is talking to, Boo is either acerbic or warm as sugar. She takes pride in the fact that Lala is a direct descendant of the first white baby born in Atlanta.
Lala Levy
In her 20s, Lala is immature for her age. When a sorority rejected her, her humiliation drives her to return home. She is an insecure, self-obsessed bundle of desperate energy.
Reba Freitag
The widow of Alfred and Boo's late brother is based on Alfred Uhry's own great aunt, whom he remembers lovingly as having a thought process rivaling the screwball logic of Gracie Allen. While Reba can appear ditzy, she is colorful and wise in her own way.
Sunny Freitag
Sunny is smart, warm, intelligent, and very much attached to her uncle and mother and is a successful student at Wellesley.
Joe Farkas
A young, dapper New Yorker immediately senses that he is a fish out of water. Inherently proud of his Jewish heritage, he doesn't know what to make of the Freitag's Christmas tree and Lala's boasts of being the only Jews on the street. An outspoken intellectual, Joe is also a romantic. Sunny and Joe are the play's love interest.
Peachy Weil
Part of the prominent Louisiana Weils, shares none of Lala's insecurity, Peachy is equally immature. He thinks cruel jokes are funny. It doesn't occur to Peachy that Joe would take offense at being identified as "the other kind."
The Summit Playhouse has an open call casting policy. ALL roles are open, none are precast, and everyone is encouraged to audition. Any questions, please call Petra Krugel at 908-514-1989 or email krugs1302@gmail.com. For directions or additional information, please visit www.summitplayhouse.org.
About the Summit Playhouse
Since its founding in 1918, the Summit Playhouse has produced over 300 productions, making it one of the oldest continuously operating community theaters in the United States. The historic institution is devoted to maintaining the practice of theatre arts and encouraging those interested in all aspects of the performing arts and its operations.
