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The Last Night Of Ballyhoo

A comedy by Alfred Uhry.

Directed by Craig Bond.

The Last Night Of Ballyhoo takes place in Atlanta, Georgia, in December of 1939. Gone with the Wind is having its world premiere, and Hitler is invading Poland, but Atlanta's elitist German Jews are much more concerned with who is going to Ballyhoo, the social event of the season. Especially concerned is the Freitag family: bachelor Adolph, his widowed sister, Beulah (Boo) Levy, and their also widowed sister-in-law, Reba. Boo is determined to have her dreamy, unpopular daughter, Lala, attend Ballyhoo, believing it will be Lala's last chance to find a socially acceptable husband. Adolph brings his new assistant, Joe Farkas, home for dinner. Joe is Brooklyn born and bred, and furthermore is of Eastern European heritage - several social rungs below the Freitags, in Beulah's opinion. Lala, however, is charmed by Joe and she hints broadly about being taken to Ballyhoo, but he turns her down. This enrages Boo, and matters get worse when Joe falls for Lala's cousin, Reba's daughter, Sunny, home from Wellesley for Christmas vacation. Will Boo succeed in snaring Peachy Weil, a member of one of the finest Jewish families in the South? Will Sunny and Joe avoid the land mines of prejudice that stand in their way? Will Lala ever get to Ballyhoo? The family gets pulled apart and then mended together with plenty of comedy, romance and revelations along the way. Events take several unexpected turns as the characters face where they come from and are forced to deal with who they really are.

Winner of the 1997 Tony Award for Best Play.

Director's Notes

In this play, we begin to see the beauty of Alfred Uhry's writing. It's December, 1939, and the world is changing.

Set in Atlanta, with the backdrop of Gone with the Wind and with the impending doom of Hitler's advances in Europe, this play examines the inner weavings of two distinct points of view – social status vs. individual fundament beliefs. The world has gone crazy over the movie premiere of Gone with the Wind. The world has gone crazy over Nazi Germany and Hitler's war mongering, and acts against the Jews. Which is more important to this family? By the end of the play we see a shift in some characters to see the world around them, by a change in their point of view. The family faces a conflict: will they be "innocent bystanders" who think only about social status and marriage, or will they revolt against social status - fighting to change the mentality of people around them - by breaking down barriers and judgments on the "other kind?" For all of us: Do we hold onto social status when there is a higher issue evolving in another part of the world?

- Craig Bond

Cast

Richard Arnold Adolph

Rich Arnold has been involved with the Evergreen Players as an actor, stage manager and sound technician since 1996. His first on-stage effort with the Players was portraying the frantic and stressed stage manager Clifton Feddington in the 1940’s Radio Hour in 1996. In 1998, Rich returned to the stage as professor Van Helsing opposite the diabocal Dracula and again in 2001 as “Froggy” LeSueur in Larry Shue’s play The Foreigner. In his other life, Rich is employed by the National Park Service as a system administrator for nationwide computer training system. Rich and his wife Pamela have lived in Evergreen nearly 10 years and have thoroughly enjoyed working and playing with the Evergreen Players community theatre. Rich would like to thank his wife Pam for putting up with the need to make money at his day job and that she can have some peace and quiet a couple of nights a week during play rehearsals. He would like to dedicate his performance to his late father Ralph Arnold and his mother Carolyn.

Craig Bond Director

Craig A. Bond has enjoyed theater since the age of four. He relocated to Colorado in 1997, where he formed his own theater company – Vintage Theatre Productions. He has directed over twenty-five plays and musicals. This is his first production with the Evergreen Players. The next project is for Craig is to direct An Evening with Neil Simon for Vintage Theatre at the end of April in Denver at the Phoenix Theatre.

Chelley Canales Lala

Chelley is thrilled to be performing with the Evergreen Players for the first time. She is especially happy to have improved on her mountain driving. A graduate of Stephens College - BFA in Theatre - Some of her past roles include: Golde - Fiddler on the Roof, Jackie O - The House of Yes, Annie - Chicago, Janet - Waiting for the Parade. Very memorable for Chelley was her expereinces at Okoboji Summer Theatre where she played Leah in the Immigrant. Others performances in Colorado include - Bovine Metropolis (Acme 22 and 23,and On the Spot) - Ascot Theatre (Once on this Island - Ti Moune), Main Street Players (South Pacific - Liat). She would like to thank Craig for the opportunity, all of the wonderful cast and crew, and all of the people in her personal life who make her happy every day.

Karen Kargel Reba

Karen's acting career began with the Evergreen Player's production of Nightmare and includes Judevine, Deathtrap, and Lost in Yonkers (amoung others) on this stage. She was last seen as Esther Klein in the world premiere of I Never Promised You a Rose Garden at Miner's Alley Theatre. Although she has performed at a variety of theatres in the Denver area, Center/Stage feels like home and she is happy to have this opportunity to work with director, Craig Bond. You may catch sight of her in a promotional peice for PBS and Chipotle on Rocky Mountain PBS. Karen has a couple movie credits,the most notable being Several Things Not Intended to Hurt You which was filmed in part in this theatre and was written by local author Scott Gibson.

Debbie Laureta Stage Manager

Debbie is thrilled to be working with the Evergreen Players for the very first time. A budget analyst by day, theater affords her the opportunity of exploring her more creative side. For the past two years, she has had wonderful theater experiences as business partner with Craig Bond in Vintage Theatre Productions. Last Night at Ballyhoo is the fifth production Debbie has been involved with. She would like to thank Craig for bringing her along on this production and giving her the opportunity of working with such a great group of people.

Kimberly Luckie Assistant Director

Kimberly Luckie has been treading the boards since she starred in the Dead Stoat Theater Company's acclaimed production of The Full Monty On Ice. During the day, Kimberly is a theater student at Metro State College of Denver and a Peaberry Coffee Barista Extraordinaire. She was last seen in The Wall Of Water at Hunger Artists and Madams On Market at Mattie's Dinner Theater. Kimberly is currently co-directing An Evening Of Neil Simon with Vintage Theatre and can be seen this summer as Mrs. Lovitts in Sweeney Todd with the Virginia City Players in Montana. Kimberly enjoys aerobics, roller coasters and quality footware.

Jason Maxwell Peachy

Jason is very excited to be working with the Evergreen Players again. Working with Craig has been a new and very fun experience for him. He is very thankful to be involved with such a talented cast and has enjoyed revisiting this fabulous mountain town. More thanks than he can mention to his awesome family and fabulous friends.

Stephanie Lynn Prugh Sunny

Stephanie is thrilled to be making her third appearance with the Evergreen Players, previously appearing in The Miracle Worker and Inherit the Wind. Most recently she has choreographed Annie with Performance Now, and A Midsummer Nights Dream with Muse of Fire Acting Company. In April she will appear in The Music Man with Town Hall, and in December as Amelia in The Credeaux Canvas with Identity Theatre Company. She would like to thank Craig for the opportunity to play a character she loves, Debbie and the cast for being so wonderful, and her family and friends for putting up with her schedule. She would also like to thank Bernie for introducing her to this wonderful script.

Meg Ralph Assistant to the Director

Meg Ralph recently graduated from The University of Northern Colorado where she majored in Theatre with an emphasis in Acting. Now that she is out in the "Real World" she is excited to be involved in theatre that she isn't being graded on. She would like to extend a special thanks to Craig and the rest of the gang for welcoming her into the world of community theatre,as well as her parents and AC for all their support!

Peggy Morgan Stenmark Set Design

Peggy Morgan Stenmark is in her second year of a two-year Artist-in-Residence program with the Evergreen Players. When she is not working on a production, she paints full time and teaches watercolor workshops at Foothills Art Center in Golden. She would like to thank the Players for giving her the opportunity to grow and learn in the theater world and to become more theatrically artistic... you guys are the best!

Sean Vernon Joe

Sean is excited to be making his debut with the Evergreen Players. Some recent memorable roles include: Roy in "Lone Star" with Vintage Theatre Productions, and Harold in the critically acclaimed "K2" with the John Galt Golden Theatre Company. Sean would like to thank his parents and fiancée, Jen, for their love and support.

Linda Williams Boo

Her second production with the Evergreen Players, Linda is delighted to be a part of Ballyhoo. A former East-Coaster, she worked with a number of theatre companies in New England, and some of her favorite roles include Maggie in Lend Me a Tenor, Ruth in Lepers, Daisy in Biloxi Blues, and Meredith in Jack Neary's First Night. By day, Linda runs her own training and consulting company that offers experiential learning and facilitation services to corporations, schools, and non-profit organizations. She would like to dedicate her performance to the memory of her wonderful dad, who used to call her Boo.

Production Crew

Images from The Last Night Of Ballyhoo

Photography by Ellen Nelson and other volunteers.

Boo (Linda Williams) and Lala (Chelley Canales); "Ballyhoo is less than two weeks away, and nobody's asked you!"

Lala (Chelley Canales), Reba (Karen Kargel) and Boo (Linda Williams); "I want to feel the excitement in the crowd! To taste it! To smell it!"

Joe (Sean Vernon); "I'm a little out of my element here... um, this Gone With The Wind stuff"

Lala (Chelley Canales), Joe (Sean Vernon) and Reba (Karen Kargel); "She was born in the middle of a terrible storm... we certainly couldn't name her cloudy, could we?"

Boo (Linda Williams) and Reba (Karen Kargel); "Louisa is a liar! Standing there in the street right up next to my face and telling me I know why she snuck off and abandoned us."

Adolph (Rich Arnold), Reba (Karen Kargel) and Sunny (Stephanie Prugh); "They didn't hear through the Southern Jewish grapevine... they were the other kind."

Lala (Chelley Canales) reveals what she took from the lobby of the theater during the intermission

Joe (Sean Vernon), Boo (Linda Williams) and Sunny (Stephanie Prugh); "I see you got home in one piece"

Lala (Chelley Canales) and Peachy (Jason Maxwell); "Are you making this up, Peachy?"

The cast: "Shabat shalom"

Cast & crew of 'The Last Night Of Ballyhoo'