The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-10-29
CIVIC THEATRE
 ON EXCURSION
Scene-Shifting Adds to Presentation of Sea-
 sons First Play

The Waterbury Civic Theatre opened its ninth season, Excursion bound on the s. s. Happiness for Coney Island. There were close to forty on board including captain and crew for the last trip explained by Obediah Rich. The trip, or we should say play, encompasSed three acts of seven scenes, the quick change be- tween the two sets, the captains cabin and the deck, negotiated by a swift turning inside out as it were of the set from cabin to deck and vice versa.
 The Women'S club auditorium was filled to capacity to see the first performance last night, and from all indications Excursion" will have 6 happy three day cruise. The out standing feature of the perform ance is the business of the scene shifting or switching. The play, by Victor Wolfson and staged and di- rected here by James Furness, Civic Theater arbiter, is one of those trick plays, somewhat fantastic and im- probable in theme. A large number of characters of conglomerate types Is presented, good, bad and indiffer- ent as to character. In fact a group of persons such as one might see on an all-day excursion. They, in this particular piece, romped through the play with much action, much shrieking, much of this and that. The captain, an idealist, decides that eXcursionists are not happy souls, so on this, his last trip, he comes to grips with his own soul, and decides, aided and abetted by an old friend, Jonathan Rich, to give them the works. Instead of nosing back to New York, he plans to steer the group, not somewhere east of Suez, but in the neighborhood of Trinidad. Prac- tically all, strange to say, agree to go
 Among the characters presented are Mrs. GeaSling and Mike, a screaming mother and obnoxious son; MT. and Mrs. Fitchell, who por- trayed the two Jewish characters convincingly; Mrs. Loschavio, daugh- ter, Eileen. and Slim Magoon, the first named ready to jump off the deep end or for someone as unlikely and gross as Slim; the three de- partment store girls, each a type and perhaps striking the most i'm portant note in the play, Tessie Martha and Lottie; Lottie made for better things, Martha out for the main chance, and Tessie, taking things as they come. For gentility and position there are Lee and Rich- ard Putnam, the former fancying the colore "red," the latter leaning to the more conventional formula.
 There are many other characters making up the whole; all have a share in the action. All meet on the deck and make a lot of din and noise over not much at all, as is the way of life, presumably. All get het uI over the island business; Mrs. Los chavio welcomes the opportunity tt get away from the smell of celery and Lee Patman has stupendou ideas about @ nursery school on thu island. In the proper frame of mint the captain, crew and passenger head for the open seas. What trans pires? Do they go, or does 1t ent up just like any other excursion t' Coney Island? Excursion" runs fol two more nights so the public wil have the opportunity to get in or the secret. The following cast more or less equally balanced as to merit has taken over the show and gives the presentation a speedy inter- pretation:
 Capt. obediah Rich, Thomas White: Stevens, first mate, Gordon Wilcox; MT. Linton, the engineer Lyall Hill; Oeckhands: Pop, Ray mond Tanning; Matson, Chester Curtis; Gilchrist. Louis Morrison Jonathan Rich, Tom Hogarth; candy boy, Michael Gugliemetti; Mrs Boomer, Ina Gordon; MT. Boomer Kenneth Downey; Mrs. Winch, Anna Anderson; MT. Winch, Edward Vie gand; Stanley Winch, Kenneth Byrne; Pauline ', ..lch, Nancy Stett- bacher; Mrs. Geasling, Allison Tripp; Mike, Albert Shattuck; Mae Colman Daniel O'Brien; Miss Dowdie, Char lotte Benedict; Martha, Alice Albert; Lottie, Eleanor Culhane; Mrs. Fitch ell, Evelyn Alexander; MT. Fitchell Isaiah Roossin; Aikens, Frederic Wood; Leslie, 1melda O'Brien; Lily M. Aureal Largay; Tessie, Mabe' Burns; Mrs. Loschavio, Irene Daly; Slim Magoon, Franklin Warren; Eileen Loschavio, Anne Wethered; Lee Putnam, Barbara Squires; Rich ard Putnam, Frank Phelan; Pat, Will liam Queal; Wood, captain of the Howard; Tony, coast guard sailor coast guard, Edward Kirschbaum; radio announcer, Walter Osborne