The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1952-02-21
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Yves Marshall

AL GNSlL WHICH, Ids D6COIIl6
traditional in the past few years
is the Hi Variety" and each
year, they somehow manage to
turn out show, which is we'll
worthwhile to see. All talent is
local, being made up of people
in Caldwell, in or out of school.
This year, it was directed by
Byron Steen, the commercial
and dramatic teacher of Caldwell
high school.
The main attraction of Hi
Variety was the featured play,
Three Old Maid Aunts." Be-
tween acts, musical and dance
selections were presented to an
almost capacity audience.
The three old maid aunts,
Harriet, the dominating aunt,
(Jess Reed); Geraldine, the man
hating aunt, MARY Tipton); and
Samantha, the sickly aunt, (Opal
Brumbach)-are all determined
that their niece, Virginia WebSt-
er, will not marry before she is
21 years of age. They will allow
nothing to stand in the way of
their selfishneSs.
The scene is the living room
of the Murray home. The broth
er of the auntS dies and leaves
them a huge amount of money
in his will, to be divided among
them and their niece, equally.
There was catch, however,
typical of any play. If Patsy
married before she is tWenty-one
she will then receive three-four-
this of the money, which, of
course, the aunts tried to pre-
vent.
The only friend Patsy has in
the family is Uncle Ed, a big
game hunter, just back from the
wilds of Africa, played by Bob
DenniSon.
The aunts call in their legal
advisor John Wheeler) to make
sure of their portion of the will.
Not to be confused with Greta
(Gretrude Harper), the Swedish
maid, who, proceeds throughout
the play, to make bright re-
marks and break dishes.
Under the guidance of Uncle
Ed, Patsy steadily moves from
under the wings of the three old
hens, until Eds help is discover
ed by the auntS and they call
in Prof. Carloff from the institu-
ton (Darl Buckey) to try and
prove Uncle Eds insanity on the
basis of his bringing a wild
baboon and a laughing hyena
from Africa, and keeping them
in the house.
The plot thickenS when Ed
pretends to take the side of the
aunts, and they devise a plan to
try and show Larry, Patsy's
Suitor and Diana, her girl friend,
Eddie Ditch and Ginger Raj
ston) that the whole family is
crazy. They hope this will dis
courage Larry from marrying
Patsy.
When the time for their plan
arrives, Larry and Diane are in
vited to the Murray home, and
each aunt proceeds to act crazy,
by portraying different charact-
ers from Shakespeare.
All the time this is going on,
Prof. Carloff, and Miss Davis,
(Ruth Wheeler), fake reporter,
hired by Uncle Ed, are hiding
behind a screen and supposedly
taking a wire recording of the
conversation. Naturally, the pro-
fessor and the reporter appear
when the conversation is finish
ed and charge the aunts with
insanity. The aunts are quite
shocked and certainly surprised
and decide to leave the territory.
So I suppose Patsy and Larry
will marry and live happily ever
after.
Between acts, there were vocal
selections by Donna Pitts, and
Mama Faulkner accompanied
by Ruth Smith. A dance duet |
was presented, also, featuring
Carol Archer and Judy Davis, |
accompanied by Eta Davis.
All in all, the Hi Variety of |
1852 was very entertaining and
presented a large variety of |