The one burning question on everyone's mind in the Carl J. Shapiro Theater for the Thursday night production of "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" was surprisingly addressed in the playbill. In a section listing the top ten reasons why Ballyhoo "rocks," number one immediately made me chuckle. "No one knows what 'Ballyhoo' is!!!!!" Perhaps this total ignorance on my part was what worked to my benefit throughout the show. Ballyhoo kept me consistently interested throughout the production. "The Last Night of Ballyhoo," written by Alfred Uhry (author of "Driving Miss Daisy"), tells the story of a Jewish family living in Atlanta, Ga. in 1939, the eve of World War II. Although this family is not observant or even knowledgeable about their own religious customs, they are on the fringe of their community, being only one of two Jewish families in their area. Banned from country clubs and treated as outsiders in many respects, the family desperately tries to assimilate into their society, going so far as to put up a Christmas tree in their window. However, their treatment of their Judaism is forced into question by Joe Farkas (Ethan Klepetar '05), a religious New York Jew who works for the patriarch of the family, Adolph Freitag (Devin Carney '06). Ultimately, Farkas convinces the family that they are ashamed of their Judaism at a time when it is imperative to identify with each other. This realization causes the family to re-evaluate their religion and is resolved with a Shabbat dinner at the Freitag/Levy home.

This major plot is broken up by several subplots including the expected romantic aspect and a recurrence of family competition throughout involving two female cousins. Although the show deals with a serious subject matter, it is not lacking in comic relief. The cast of the show was incredibly talented. This might have been due to the fact that since the cast was rather small, consisting of seven people, it was obviously carefully selected. Rachel Kramer '04, who played Boo Levy, Adolph's sister, was one of my favorite characters in the play. Kramer displayed her mastery of the Georgian accent and was wildly emotional, as her part demanded. Her ability to change from a display of anger to jealousy to happiness impressed me a great deal, and she was clearly the most dynamic character in the play.

Adding a more easygoing element in opposition to the excitement of Boo, was Adolph Freitag. Carney's talent came through in his delivery. His sarcastic remarks and other humorous comments were made even funnier by the way he delivered them. Whether falling asleep with a newspaper on his face or eating cold chicken in the middle of the night, Carney never failed to get laughs. He also had some of the best lines in the show, mocking the many women with whom he lived and complaining about his role as the only man of the house.

Although I have given particular attention to these two characters, every actor and actress in the cast is worthy of praise. Elana Blumenthal '05 plays Reba Freitag, the cheerful but rather unintelligent sister-in-law of Adolph. Her misunderstanding of almost everything that goes on provided frequent humor. Sara Friedlander '05 as Lala Levy portrays a young woman caught up with Clark Gable and "Gone with the Wind," at first unable to adapt to society, spending most of her time alone in her room. Lala is an endearing character, who one cannot help but feel sorry for throughout the play. This makes it all the more pleasing when Lala finds happiness at the end and marries Peachy Weil (Adam Schwartzbaum '07). Schwartzbaum, with his shocking red hair (dyed of course), plays a "Louisiana Weil" who simply loves to mess with people's minds. In opposition to most of this zany family is Sunny Freitag (Jessica Perelle '07), the intellect of the family who attends Wellesley College. Freitag's winning personality and her maturity make her an easily likeable character. Every actor in the cast gave his all and did a truly fantastic job.

Also noteworthy are producer Rachel Boyarsky and director Jacob Baron. Their hard work certainly paid off, resulting in a show with a phenomenal cast and a beautiful performance in every respect. As a person with no theatrical talent at all, I cannot express my admiration enough for the cast of this play. They really created a family that meshed so well that it felt real, an accomplishment that really impressed me.

And now I will tell you what "Ballyhoo" actually is, although its definition is not particularly exciting. It was the social event of the year for Atlanta's Jewish Society during this time period, culminating in a fancy dance. And as a play, it was a great production and a real loss to anyone who did not have the chance to catch one of the shows.