The Last Night of Ballyhoo is a play by Alfred Uhry. After twenty-four previews, the Broadway production, directed by Ron Lagomarsino, opened on February 27 1997 at the Helen Hayes Theatre, where it ran for 556 performances. The original cast included Terry Beaver as Adolph, Dana Ivey as Boo, Paul Rudd as Joe, Arija Bareikis as Sunny, Jessica Hecht as Lala, and Celia Weston as Aunt Reba. Replacements later in the run included Peter Michael Goetz as Adolph, Kelly Bishop and Carole Shelley as Boo, Mark Feuerstein and Christopher Gartin as Joe, Kimberly Williams as Sunny, and Cynthia Nixon as Lala.

Plot synopsis

The comedy-drama is set in the upper class German-Jewish (Ashkenazi) society of Atlanta, Georgia in December 1939. Hitler is invading Poland, Gone with the Wind is about to premiere, and Adolph Freitag (owner of the Dixie Bedding Company) and his sister Boo and nieces Lala and Sunny - a Jewish family so highly assimilated they have a Christmas tree in the front parlor - is looking forward to Ballyhoo, a lavish cotillion sponsored by their restrictive country club. Adolph's employee Joe Farkas is an attractive eligible bachelor and an Eastern European Jew, familiar with prejudice but unable to fathom its existence within his own religious community. His presence prompts college student Sunny to examine intra-ethnic bias, her Jewish identity, and the beliefs with which she's been raised.

Originally a series of vignettes, each featuring a different member family of the city's exclusive Standard Club, Ballyhoo was inspired by the playwright's childhood memories. It was commissioned by the Olympic Arts Festival for the 1996 Summer Olympics and was staged at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre that year. In revising the play for a New York City opening, Uhry opted to focus solely on the Freitags and expanded their storyline into two acts.