Shalom, Buckhead!

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The magic of theatre is that it takes us places we couldn't get to any other way, and this month it just so happens that two Williamson County theatre companies offer Nashville theatre goers the unique opportunity to experience my hometown of Atlanta through the eyes of DRIVING MISS DAISY author Alfred Uhry with the Towne Centre production of THE LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO, which opened this weekend, and the Boiler Room production of PARADE which opens next Friday, October 5. 

Both plays strike strong personal chords - PARADE because it is in part about my own family and BALLYHOO because the home in which it is set would be - at least theoretically - maybe a ten minute walk from my grandmother's house at 99 Peachtree Battle Avenue - and I have to admit to being overwhelmed with both nostalgia and homesickness as I immersed myself in Towne Center's absolutely charming production of LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO. 

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Towne Centre, which is located in Brentwood, has got to be the Nashville theatre scene's best kept secret and I can't quite figure out why. It's a wonderful space - maybe the sweetest little theatre in towne - and for Melissa Williams' right on production of BALLYHOO, the audience practically walks right in to what could easily serve as a museum exhibit for a Buckhead parlor. Just checking out the furniture on Pete Hiett's marvelous set is worth a road trip down Franklin Pike, but what these actors deliver on that set would make it worth while if you had to drive to Kentucky. W. Preston Crook is flat out brilliant in his understated performance as Adolf Freitag, the prototypical Buckhead patriarch drowning in a sea of females, and. as his sister Boo (Beulah), Jan Parrish Hendon is fierce in the role of an Atlanta widow with all the attitude and social radar of an Atlanta junior leaguer - if only she wasn't, you know, Jewish. 

But just how "Jewish" are these people? The litmus test shows up at the door in the character of one Joe Farkas - a fine turn by Jon Castro - a nice Brooklyn boy who attends not one but two Seder dinners every year. Joe falls in love with Adolf's niece, Sunny (can't say enough about Lindsay Carter in this role) and just to put the issues in perspective, Sunny doesn't know what the Seder is. Welcome to Atlanta. 

Meanwhile, Sunny's cousin, Lala, is having delusions of Scarlett O'Hara (the play is set on the eve of the premiere of GONE WITH THE WIND) while decorating the Christmas tree - whose ornaments include several stars of David. Lala is undoubtedly the most enigmatic character in this story and the gazelle like Jami Winfrey is just cutting her teeth on the role, so I'm going back in four weeks to see where she goes with it.

Vicki Songer's delightful Reba is a titillating fusion of Aunt PityPat, Fannie Brice and Birdie from LITTLE FOXES and there is much about Uhry's mythical Southern world that echos back to that other wonderful Southern Jewish playwright, Lillian Hellman. 

Rounding out the ensemble is a pip of a young actor named Taylor Sokoll as "Peachy" Weil - another nice Jewish boy, but this time from Louisiana and one of "the best Southern Families" - well, if you're Jewish, that is. 

And they all look spectacular in Natalie Stone's superb period costumes - especially Lala's hysterical ball gown which is bound to provoke memories of Carol Burnet's killer line - " I just saw it in the window and had to have it." (For those of you who remember.) 

As an immediate male relative of any number of former presidents of the Atlanta Junior League, LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO and the world of Jewish debutantes is about the funniest satire I have ever seen on the world that I grew up in. Some of Boo's special brand of "Buckhead sarcasm" made me feel like I was in some kind of family therapy group session, but for anyone who is NOT from Atlanta, just know in advance that Atlanta and her particular brand of Southern culture are among the weirder contributions to civilization and no one captures that better than Uhry and his masterful depiction of the conflicted gestalt of Southern Jewish society. 

That conflict has roots which, in stark contrast to BALLYHOO, will hit the stage in The Boiler Room's almost Brechtian production of director Sondra Morton's take on PARADE, Urhy's collaboration with composer Jason Robert Brown about the trial and lynching of Leo Frank, in which you can see my grandfather sing, dance and prosecute Leo Frank. Opens October 5th.

What's Atlanta all about? Find out. Come to Nashville and go to the Theatre. www.townecentretheatre.com, www.boilerroomtheatre.com

Jaz Dorsey 

The Nashville Dramaturgy Project

Tony Award-Winning PARADE opens 10/5 (Nashville)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 12, 2012

Contact: Corbin Green, Managing Director 615-596-1549

Sondra Morton, Operations Manager 615-294-0667

BOILER ROOM THEATRE TO STAGE

MIDDLE TN PREMIERE OF

PARADE

FRANKLIN, TENN. – The Boiler Room Theatre (BRT), Williamson County’s original and longest-running professional theatre company, follows its successful run of Steel Magnolias with Jason Robert Brown’s Tony Award Winning PARADE. The production will run from October 5th through the 20th at the theatre’s iconic namesake venue in the historic Factory at Franklin, 230 Franklin Rd., Building Six, in Franklin, Tennessee.

With book by Alfred Uhry (Pulitzer Prize for DRIVING MISS DAISY) and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown (THE LAST FIVE YEARS), PARADE had its world premiere at Lincoln Center Theater in 1998. It won the Tony Awards for best book and score, and the Drama Desk and New York Critics’ Circle awards for Best Musical. The show quickly built an international following for its haunting score and powerful narrative and has subsequently been produced by renowned companies around the world, including recent acclaimed productions in London and Los Angeles. Thanks to the BRT production, PARADE will finally have its Middle Tennessee premiere.

PARADE takes place in 1913 Atlanta, Georgia. After a teenaged factory employee is assaulted and murdered, Leo Frank, the young Jewish manager of the factory, is charged with the crime. By manipulating witnesses and tampering with evidence, the prosecution sets about convincing the jury that the wrongly accused Frank is guilty. Considered one of the most sensational trials of the early 20th century, the Frank case pressed every hot-button issue of the time: North vs. South, black vs. white, Jewish vs. Christian, industrial vs. agrarian. The musical recounts the press frenzy and public outrage surrounding the trial and conviction, including the crusade for justice amid religious intolerance, political injustice and racial tension fought by Frank’s wife, Lucille. “This show holds such an important message about prejudice and stereotypes,” says director Sondra Morton. “It is an influential part of our southern history. I am honored to direct such an incredible and integral piece of work. My hope is that each audience member leaves reflecting on who they are and how they perceive others.”

Morton’s company of 17 actors, who will play the musical’s 40 roles, includes many of Middle Tennessee’s finest talent. Having recently directed the acclaimed Pippin for the BRT, Paul Cook stars as Leo Frank. Back after her tour de force portrayal of Diana in Next to Normal is Megan Murphy Chambers as his wife Lucille Frank. Also starring are Matt Baugher as Hugh Dorsey, Jordan Ravellette as Britt Craig, Josh Lowry as Frankie, Laura Crockarell as Sally and Ms. Phagan, Dominique Howse as Jim Conley, Hope Dyra as Mary Phagan, Morganne Best as Iola Stover, Paige Brouillette as Essie, Arden Guice as Monteen, Colin Carswell as Newt Lee, Piper Jones as Minnie, and rounding out the cast by playing several characters are Dan McGeachy, Dan Ziegler, Flynt Foster, and Darci Wantiez.

Jamey Green and Lauri Bright serve as PARADE’S musical director and choreographer, respectively, while Jayme Smith (stage manager), Corbin Green (set design) and Katie Delaney (costumes) make up its production team.

A unique feature of this production is the use of Jaz Dorsey, the grandson of the controversial prosecuting attorney depicted in PARADE, as its dramaturge. “Doing the dramaturgy means doing the research, and the first book one grabs these days on the subject of Leo Frank is AND THE DEAD SHALL RISE by Steve Oney. Oney's book isn't just about Leo Frank - it is an amazing and compelling history of Atlanta at the turn of the century, so rich in research and knowledge that one paragraph can provoke an entire day Googling the various players who keep coming on the scene. From Oney I learned that Leo's defense attorney, Luther Rosser, was directly connected to the Dorsey clan, as his son, Luther Rosser, Jr. was married to my grandfather's sister. Creepy. It seems that there is much that is suspect about Rosser's defense. Can you say ‘conflict of interest’?”

Performances will be held every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday evening during the run at 8 p.m. There will also be one Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. on October 14 and one Thrifty Thursday show at 8 p.m. on October 18. Ticket prices are $27 for adults, $25 for seniors (age 60 and up) and students (age 13 through college with valid ID), and $21 for children ages 3 through 12. Matinee prices are $2 less respectively. All Tuesday shows are two-for-one ($27 for two tickets; no other discounts apply). Thrifty Thursdays allow guests to beat the weekend crowds and grab tickets at the bargain price of $17. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Boiler Room Theatre at 615-794-7744 or ordered online at www.boilerroomtheatre.com.

Following Parade, A Special Revival of the Rocky Horror Show (Directed by Megan Murphy Chambers), then continuing with our 2012 season, A Year With Frog and Toad, and Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge running in repertory. Tickets can be purchase by contacting the BRT Box Office at 615-794-7744.

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The Boiler Room Theatre (BRT) is Williamson County’s first and longest-running resident professional theatre company, established in 2000, launching its inaugural season in March 2001. A 501(c)(3) non-profit Arts organization, BRT’s mission is to present intimate stagings of classic Broadway musicals, area premieres of recent off-Broadway plays and musicals, and original works by local playwrights and composers. BRT’s Youth Educational Programs (YEP!) and its partnership with performance group the ACT TOO Players have provided theatre arts instruction and performance opportunities to more than 10,000 children since its inception in 2001.