'Last Night Of Ballyhoo' Added To Bay Street Lineup

Bay Street Theater and Sag Harbor Center for the Arts has announced that “The Last Night of Ballyhoo,” by “Driving Miss Daisy” author Alfred Uhry, will round out its 2016 Mainstage season.

The Tony Award-winning play, which debuted in 1996 in Atlanta and ran on Broadway in 1997 and 1998, joins two previously announced Mainstage productions, “My Fair Lady” and the world premiere of “The Forgotten Woman.”

“The Last Night of Ballyhoo” is set in a German-Jewish community in Atlanta in 1939, just after Hitler invaded Poland. The wealthy Freitag family is looking forward to Ballyhoo, a German Jewish country club ball. Then the arrival of Eastern European bachelor Joe Farkas forces everyone to confront their beliefs, prejudices and desires. The journey is filled with comedy, romance and surprising revelations, according to Bay Street.

“The Last Night in Ballyhoo” will be staged from June 28 through July 24. Bay Street’s associate artistic director, Will Pomerantz, will direct.

The Mainstage season starts with “The Forgotten Woman” by Jonathan Tolins from May 31 through June 19. Noah Himmelstein will direct the story of Margaret Meier, a gifted soprano on the verge of a major operatic career. “When a handsome reporter shows up at her Chicago hotel room, this anything-but-diva-like diva is forced to grapple with every aspect of her life—her less-than-passionate marriage, her child, her ambition, her weight, and the price she must pay in a most demanding and irrational art form,” the synopsis states.

“My Fair Lady” is a musical with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The plot centers on Eliza Doolittle, a cockney flower seller who takes speech lessons from Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics, in order to pass as a lady. The story is adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion” and the 1938 Gabriel Pascal film of the same name that the play inspired. Michael Arden, who recently directed the revival of “Spring Awakening” on Broadway, will direct. The show runs August 2 though 28.

“In this inspiring and important year, Bay Street will offer a broad range of work that embraces all that theater can be—a world premiere, a bold new interpretation of a beloved classic musical, and a contemporary masterpiece,” Bay Street artistic director Scott Schwartz said. “I am delighted to welcome three visionary directors to our stage: Noah Himmelstein, Will Pomerantz, and Michael Arden. These are exciting artists who will create dazzling, unique productions for our audience. In our 25th year, Bay Street will continue to be the place to experience cutting edge, entertaining live theater that the East End will be talking about all summer long.”

Tickets to individual plays have yet to go on sale, though season subscriptions are available. Visit baystreet.org or call (631) 725-9500.