Originally a series of [[vignette (literature)|vignette]]s, each featuring a different member family of the city's exclusive Standard Club, ''Ballyhoo'' was inspired by the [[playwright]]'s childhood memories. In revising the play, Uhry opted to focus solely on the Freitags and expanded their storyline into two acts. ''Ballyhoo'' was commissioned by the Olympic Arts Festival for the 1996 [[Summer Olympic Games|Summer Olympics]] and was staged at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre that year.<ref>Glaser, Blair. [http://www.playbill.com/features/article/plays-commissioned-for-olympics-are-going-the-distance-100933/# "Plays Commissioned for Olympics Are Going the Distance"] Playbill, April 25, 1997</ref><ref>Mardenfeld, Sandra. [http://www.playbill.com/features/article/uhry-prepares-ballyhoo-for-atlantas-olympic-arts-fest-100728# "Uhry Prepares Ballyhoo for Atlanta's Olympic Arts Fest"] Playbill, June 6, 1996</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thehipp.org/ballyhoo.html|title=Hippodrome Theatre -|work=thehipp.org|accessdate=6 March 2015}}</ref> The Atlanta cast included Terry Beaver as Adolph, Dana Ivey as Boo, Stephen Mailer as Joe, Jessalyn Gilsig as Sunny, Mary Bacon as Lala, Valerie J. Curtin as Aunt Reba, and Stephen Largay as Peachy Weil. (T. Beaver, D. Ivey, and S. Largay were the only cast members to transfer to Broadway.)<ref name=NYT />
