THEATER REVIEW:

Back in 1939, when Europe’s Jews were suffering the most unspeakable form of discrimination, those in Atlanta spent much of their time discriminating against one another — when they weren’t caught up in the cultural phenomenon at their local movie theater where a little flick called “Gone With the Wind� was premiering.

Such are the ingredients of Alfred Uhry’s “Last Night of Ballyhoo,� a Tony Award winner on Broadway a dozen years ago, now on the stage of the Newport Theater Arts Center in an occasionally uneven but overall entertaining production.

As Uhry, more noteworthy for his “Driving Miss Daisy,� points out, seven decades ago the Germanic Jews on this side of the Atlantic felt somewhat superior to those with Polish and Russian heritage.

His play shows what happens when one of the “other kind� appears on the family scene.

Local playwright Cecilia Fannon — whose “Green Icebergs� premiered at South Coast Repertory in 1994 — directs with a tender hand and a keen eye for detail, though the pronounced Brooklyn accent on the visiting Jew leans toward caricature of the Bowery Boys variety.

The setting is the home of the well-to-do Freitag family — two widows and the brother of one of them, who never married, along with a grown daughter of each woman.

The daughters are caught in another form of discrimination — one is an excellent university student, the other dropped out of college, and emotional scars remain.

Pete Taylor convincingly portrays the wise patriarch, Adolph, operator of a bedding company who is well accustomed to the chatty craziness surrounding him and sleeps through it whenever possible.

It’s almost never possible, however, due to the bombastic tone of his sister, Boo, a nicely layered if sometimes overly strident performance by Laura Flores.

His widowed sister-in-law, Reba, is a giggly, matronly confection and Rebecca Taylor plays her to the hilt.

Boo’s ungainly daughter Lala, who’s caught up in the “Wind� from downtown (to the point where she swipes a movie poster from the theater) is convincingly interpreted by Karen Wray.

Into this melange arrives Joe Farkas, the aforementioned “other kind� of Jew from New York, a decent guy with a steely interior rendered splendidly by Michael Gerstner.

He falls gradually for Reba’s daughter Sunny, on a holiday break from college, a role beautifully enacted by Lovelle Liquigan.

The play’s other character — a Louisiana prankster whose shock of scarlet hair brings to mind the comic goofball Carrot Top — is properly overplayed by Alex Toplansky. Somehow, he and Lala seem predestined as a couple.

Bill Cole’s sepia-toned set design and Tom Phillips’ period costumes suggest a family of Depression survivors living well but not extravagantly so.

“Last Night of Ballyhoo� — the title refers to an Atlanta celebration of young Jewish singles — is both informative and entertaining at the Newport Theater Arts Center.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Last Night of Ballyhoo�

WHERE: Newport Theater Arts Center, 2501 Cliff Drive, Newport Beach

WHEN: 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, at 2 p.m. Sunday until April 26

COST: $15

CALL: (949) 631-0288

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews appear Thursdays.