Play has no drive

b,t Chris Vescl

assistant copy editor

Unlike his Pulitzer Prize winning "Driving Miss Daisy," which deals with prejudices and aging using a delightful blend of humor, Alfred Uhl-y's "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" struggles to find direction, meaning and any sort of feeling beyond its plastic touch. Playing at the Walnut Street Theatre. the play·s combination of realness and comedy is so-forced that the drama suffers.

Set in 1930s Georgia on the eve of the second world war, "Ballyhoo" tells of a Jewish family, composedprimarily of women. There is the cunning and proper Boo, who pushes her daughter Lala to make something of herself. There is Boo's sister-in-law, the sweet yet silly Reba and her college,.educated daughter Sunny, who goes to school up North. And thrown into this mess of Southern antiquity is Adolph, Boo' s brother. These fol.ksare Jewish, yet a few of them would love to believe they are not. They raise a Christmas tree because all of their neighbors have one, yet they refuse to mount a star on it. Boo and the daughters tend to deny their German Jew heritage and see themselves above Russian Jews. Lala is jealous of Sunny, who neither looks nor sounds Jewish, in her opinion. The conflict comes to a peak with the entry of Joe, played by Damon Bonetti, who is a young Russian Jew working for Adolph.

Of all troupes to fall into this label, graphic courtesy of lmprovicons lems (which are only the tip of the Improviconsstayed true to what we The new logo for the improv troupe shows the inspi- the iceberg), we kept our comwere taught. While other groups sue- ration from "Transformers.n posure and conducted ourcumbed to the temptations of shock added, "I can't believe they did that!" It selves in a professional manner even humor and cheap laughs, the Irnprovi- was a refreshing change of pace for the when the other groups did not. At one cons used jokes that were based in truth, audience, and aside from its different point, a player from Harvard ran onto and the laughs that came forth were hon- style, it is considerably more difficult. It stage in the middle of another group'sest and not due to any type of gag. Even is easy to shock and perform tastelessly, performance. Skidmore's own acclaimed troupes sac- but for people who are used to it, it is un- In short, even with all of the problems rificed the believabilityof things they did believably difficult to get a good old- and setbacks, Cabrini's Improvicons disjust to get a laugh rather than getting the fashioned belly laugh. played an amazing amount of talent and laughs because of the truth in the scene By the end of the weekend, we were earned a huge amount of respect. (which is a major foundation of impro- getting compliments and respect from visational comedy). the other people there because of our

Shakespeare's spirited women

by ShannaLynn Fanelli a & e editor

A menagerie of Shakespearean female portrayals will be performed by Shakespearean Actress Cherie Weinert on Tuesday, Feb. 22 in the Red Cloud Coffee House.

Her solo production, "Shakespeare's Spirited Women," is composed of her many roles in Shakespeareplays.

Weinert, renowned in the Baltimore theatrical scene, trained in theater at the University of Houston and California State University in San Jose.

Weinerthas starred in leading roles in many Shakespeare plays including, "Measure for Measure," "As You Like It," ''A Midsummer Night's Dream" and

''Twelfth Night," just to name a few. Weinert was also in a production of "Middleton" and Rowel's ''The Changeling" in March of 1968 under the direction of Neal Newman, theater director at Cabrini.

Weinert has also appeared with professional theaters like Center Stage, Baltimore Opera, Maryland Arts Festival, National Public Television,Theater John Hopkins and the Smithsonian Institute.

The performance begins ai 3: 15 p.m. Admission is free. A master class will be conducted by Weinert for the cast of this year's theater production of ''As You Like It'' following the performance.

So what is Ballyhoo? Ballyhoo is a dance for all of the teenage Jews in thetown.a tradition of sorts. While Ballyhoo seems to be a stapl,Jin Boo andI.ala's Sunny is content believing she doesn't CaRI about the festivity. NevatbcJeas, Joe persuades heirto go widlbim. Enter cont1ict. Fiuly.

The play's humor is • first rate. bat tQlDC of tbe jokes are witty. (Lala ltlls her mother that "'Gone with the Wmd" is like ll. trondcd'ul dram. Boo rep1i.es."No dream lasts fourbolin.j The problem is \bat the humor is incompaliblc widi the-drama. Rather thanbeing a mbtle partner, the jobs' intrude into the story like a boisterous neighbor who~ to tmc. How can we Boo's flaws saious1y ._ ae \'Oices diem in sudtm (lffllandjsb 1UDl1fi'1How QIID:1re .believe that the family's prejudice il 4au..., ftl' sipificant if it cao all« solved in a qwck seene at the end of the play'! "Ballyhoo" SecmJ to Jook at 1be issuos that "Miss Daisy crashes into but simply dance around them.

This sacrifice in plot also hurtsthe characters, which seem shallow and plastic. Caricatures would be a better word. While none of tbe performancesareparticularly remarkable. a few do raceout ahead of the pack. These include Rosemary Knower's ridiculous Boo and Carolyn Pasquantonio's channing $mmy.

1be play docs gain $01DC points for taking such an interesting point of view--the prejudice within the Jewish community at a time whenJews were being persecuted by so many others. A community that should be strong is tom in half.

Considering the flaws in •'Ballyhoo," it's a wonder why it bas been so celebrated. It is the winner of a Tony Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a DramaLeague Award and an American Theatre Critics Association Award."1"beLail Nipt of Ballyboo" plays until Match S at the Walaut --~ 'For 1ickdsor infona,.