Family communication is also at the heart of “Last Night at Ballyhoo,” by Alfred Uhry, author of “Driving Miss Daisy.”

Ballyhoo is the social event of the season for the upper-class Jewish community in Atlanta. Boo Levy is especially worried about it; she wants her unpopular daughter, Lala, to go to the big event and find herself a husband. Boo's widowed sister-in-law, Reba, is concerned about her daughter, Sunny, finding the wrong kind of man.

Inspired by Uhry's childhood memories, the Broadway production won the 1997 Tony Award for best play and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

Ron Law, executive director of Theatre Charlotte, said a committee reads and provides feedback on play and musical choices for the upcoming season.

They try to schedule plays that fulfill the company's mission of “making theater relevant in the lives of more people by demonstrating that it entertains, inspires and unites communities.” “Ballyhoo,” he says, is romantic and funny but also engaging.

The biggest obstacle has been dealing with the economic slowdown. Producing a play with integrity and, at the same time, finding ways to creatively come in under budget has been difficult, he says.

Director Tim Ross launched his professional directing career in 1987 with Charlotte Shakespeare Company's “'Night Mother,” which won the Best Drama award from Creative Loafing that year, Law says. Ross appeared as an actor in “Last Night at Ballyhoo” for Charlotte Rep and made his directing debut at Theatre Charlotte with last year's Stage 501 Series production of “Waiting for Godot.”

The cast includes some new and some familiar faces. Actors Michael Sharpe and Paula Schmitt are new to the Theatre Charlotte stage; Donna Scott and Joe Copley have appeared in numerous company productions, as well as in theaters around town.

Law says he'd like audiences to laugh and be entertained, but also absorb the play's themes of addressing bias and the conflict between conformity and individualism.