The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-01-09

Aliae SEacsEahon stage to shake hands and say thanks.
 The slightest inquiry, however, win switch and anchor Miss Mac MahoniS conversation to another subject--to Q second success which she has going on the side.
 This success is Lunch Time FoI1eS," Q roaring revue packed with hot blues and slapstick. It is playing to men in war plants scat. tered along what you might call the east coast munitions circuit. Twenty mine centers, from MasSa. chusettS and New York down to Baltimore and Norfolk, have seen and acclaimed it. Miss MacMahon looks forward to its expansion na- tionally until hundreds of factories are "Aerviced" with lunchtime enc tertainment every few weeks.
 Lunch Time Follies' is more than entertainment" she explained warmly. She is a fluid, vibrant woman, offstage as on, plain-spoken and very simple.
 "You see, the hot tunes in the re- view take with the men gathered around, eating.
 "Tihe entertainers sing about pro- ductioa problems-latenesS on the job, or carelessnesS.
 One of our best numbers goes: I want a man on time. A mans gotta be on time or he can't work on my production line.' There is another song about Sloppy Joe, al- ways dropping tools on somebody's feet. Son, tunes like that are being hummed all through the plant, and along with the tunes, words like that are going through the mems heads. Pretty soon you've got the accident rate down and the prompt ness rate Ip."
 She seems as indifferent to big time success, now that she has it, as she was before 1t came-when in fact, several times, she deliberate ly passed up probable hits to per- form in plays that seemed likely to fail end did, spectacularly. She is just doing now, as she's done all alonY, what interests me"
 She was interested" last June in men working in munitions plants,
 "Everybody's interested in the man in uniform," she told the American Theater Wing, then about to launch the now famous Stage Doo,. Canteen where fighters on furlvugll relax. 'tAnd rightly. But somobody must be interested in the man in the factory. He interests me-"
 Great Britain was already busy about the plant forces. It had 5000 actors in 1,500 units travelling to vital production centers, playing vaudeville, Miss MacMal1on reports. She suggested sort of Junior Stage Door Canteen, got the Theater Wings enthusiasm and $l0,000 and proceeded to get her project going.
 Shs interested actors, producers, writers. They produced half-dozen numbers. Their starter fund soon exhausted, they sold the show at man books 1t. The program IS adapted to the time available and the points which plant managers and a naval liaison officer want stressed.
 Management and workmen share the expenses. Performers like the blues singers, fast tap dancers and jitterbug specialists get paid. Not prime movers like Miss MacMahon and Kaufman and Hart, who wrote and perform Q ribald btrlesque called "A. Hitlet, the Man Who Went to Moscow"
 Miss MacMahon does not appear In Lunch Time Follies," but 1t ab- sorbs most of her time between Broadway performances.
 She comes naturally by her pat tern of late success and success on her own terms. Both her father, a newspaperman, and her mother en- couraged her in acting. Her mother Is an independent sort and was an amateur performer for years. She uses the name Jennie Mack and they have 8 comedy scene together in a current film.
 q didn't have The Eve of St. Mark figured for success" she con- fessed. "I thought 1t was important and wanted to do it. I thought 1t was too sad Q play to go over big. I stilI think 1t would have been, but for the fighting message that we accented, with the writer and direc- tor, in rehearsal"