Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-11-11
AT THE
T T., EATERS.

LC ELDOM does an Omaha audi
~ ence linger after the drop of
~ the last curtain to applaud
play. But it did this last night at
the Boyd, where William Court
enay in Civilian Clothes" opened
weeks engagement. = -,
And the applause the audience
gave was from the heart-an out
burst of spontaneous ethusiasm and
appreciation of an evening of real
enjoyment and stamp of approval
on a really clever play, acted BY
honest-to-goodness actors and act
reSSes. ~
Civilian Clothes" would have
gone over big even if acted by a
mediocre company, by virtue of q
delightful com -dy plot and clever
bits of stage business. But acted
sas it is by a metropolitan company.
the comedy is one of a thousand,
and theatergoers who pass up the
Boyd attraction this week probably
will be kept busy the rest of the win
ter trying to explain to their friends
why they did. To start With, Mr..
Courtenay is finished actor, Sup
ported by a finished company, in a
vehicle that fits the star to T.
But He needn't have come to the
footliGhts before the play started
+ and Explained to the audience,
because he wanted to be fair
with it, that his leading lady was
not in the cast, due to a sudden at
tack of serious illness in Milwau-
kee just before coming to Omaha.
FFor the little actress who was called
in the emergency played her part
SO delightfully."- and made such a fav-
orable impression on the audience
that nobody would have known the
difference.
Mr.. Courtenay as Sam McGin-
MIS-" late captain in the A. E. F. ami
winner of the D. S. c. and a rough
neck" according to the snob's way
of thinking, shows all the fire and
enthusiasm. and bits of stage play
that his role calls for. As the civi-
Lap just out of soldiers uniform,
with his ball-toed shoes, CLASSY"
clothes and unashamed admission
that he's just common sort of fell
low; as the butler, bent on learning
manners" and on cuiinS his wife.
whom he married in France, Of her
snobbishness; as the finished prod
uct, the man of the world and dipS
lomatic husband, Mr.. Courtenay ls
real, true to life, all in all, perfect.
Floy Murray, who at the last MIN
ute took the part of Florence Lam
ham," the society girl who went to
France, married her hero captain,
and them found him a different sort
of fellow when he came to life"
and appeared N her aristocratic
home, after having been brought
dead, a role originally intended for
Virginia Fox Brooks, handled the
leading lady's lines like a veteran
and deserves all the applause she
got last night.
The supporting cast is unusually
we'll balanced, each member of the
large company coming in for his and
her share of the honors.
Particular mention should be
made of Francis Underwood Z as
Mrs. Margaret Smythe, Dorothy
Murdoch as Belle Henderson,
Theodore Westman as lack Hart"
]. Francis O'Reilly as "Mr. Lam
ham," Lloyd Neal as ,"McGinnis
ST." Frank Herbert as BILLY Ark
wright" Venie Atherton as Mora,
the Maid" J. X. Murray as Gen
eral McInery," Raymond Walburn
as Jack Rutherford" Lillian Law
renee as "Mrs. Lanham."
The settings are elaborate and
pleasing in all the three acts and
two scenes.
Civilian Clothes" will play mat
inees Wednesday and Saturday
Many theater parties attended the
i Orpheum last evening for society
night, and the big fashionable audi
ence displayed enthusiastic appro-
baton for the chief attraction Of
the bill, the 1919 dance revue headed
by Bessie Clayton. Her company
includes the famous Spanish dancers,
Eliza and Eduardo Casino. An
other of the organization is the
humorous eccentric dapcer, James
4 Clemens. He is more than grotes-
que, he is exceptionally laughable.