A Natural Born Director

March 1, 2026

Father McGivney’s pastoral genius included directing popular plays to draw parish and social life together

By By Troy J. McMullen

March 1, 2026

Thomaston Opera House Ceiling.jpg — The ongoing restoration of the Thomaston Opera House, built in 1884, is reflected in this image of the ornately painted ceiling, completed in 2024. (Photo by Ryan Lavine / Litchfield Magazine)

In March 1885, days before a stage production directed by Father Michael J. McGivney was set to open at the Opera House in Thomaston, Connecticut, the town’s new parish priest embarked on a 100-mile journey to New York City.

The Connecticut Catholic, the official publication of the Diocese of Hartford, reported: “Father McGivney is now in New York, where he will procure costumes and all that is necessary for the production of the drama ‘Eileen Oge,’ which will be performed by members of St. Thomas’ Christian Doctrine Society, on St. Patrick’s night, at the Opera House.”

This was not the first time the energetic priest — who had founded the Knights of Columbus three years earlier — navigated the chaotic and noisy streets of Manhattan on an artistic mission. By the time he was reassigned from St. Mary’s Church in New Haven to St. Thomas Church, some 30 miles north, Father McGivney had already produced or directed five plays and had made at least one other trip into the city to rent theatrical supplies.

While his roles as parish priest and founder of the Knights are widely known, Blessed Michael McGivney’s keen appreciation and use of the dramatic arts to foster friendship and charity further attest to his pastoral genius.

“He wanted to engage his parish by staging faith-based plays and community events that would connect people to the joy of the Gospel,” explained Father Joseph Crowley, pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Thomaston, which includes St. Thomas Church and Immaculate Conception Church in Terryville — both formerly under Father McGivney’s pastoral care.

For a visionary like Father McGivney, the opera house became a bridge between the sacred space of the parish and the secular pulse of the street — a place where faith met the life of the town. “Through music and drama on the stage, he established a sense of fellowship with his parish and town community,” added Father Crowley, who serves as chaplain of Atlantic Council 18 in Thomaston.

That legacy continues into the 21st century as local Knights bear witness to Father McGivney’s vision both on and off the stage of the historic Thomaston Opera House, which is undergoing restoration.

STAGESTRUCK IN NEW HAVEN

Father McGivney’s interest in theater almost certainly predated his arrival as curate, or assistant priest, of St. Mary’s Church in January 1878. Given what is known about his upbringing in Waterbury and what a seminary friend described as his “fund of good humor,” young Michael McGivney likely enjoyed — and participated in — school or parish stage productions prior to his ordination on Dec. 22, 1877.

The earliest documented evidence of his affinity for drama comes from Thomas Clark, one of his first Sunday school students at St. Mary’s.

“I never tired of him,” said Clark, as quoted in Parish Priest, the 2006 biography by Douglas Brinkley and Julie M. Fenster. “His course on Catechism was well planned, and he often used the children to personify characters of the Gospels.”

Thomaston Opera House Children Performers.jpg — Sunday school children from St. Thomas Church assemble on stage at the Thomaston Opera House during an event organized by Father Michael McGivney, circa 1885. (Photo courtesy of the Thomaston Historical Society)

Beyond catechesis, Father McGivney was particularly concerned for teenagers and young working men of his largely Irish parish who were vulnerable to alcoholism. One of the first parish organizations he joined was St. Joseph’s Young Men’s Total Abstinence and Literary Society (TAL), a temperance group whose principal activity was staging plays.

Though TAL lacked resources and momentum, Father McGivney quietly helped transform it. Elected treasurer in June 1878, he encouraged and advised the members as they organized fundraisers and rehearsed their lines, building confidence along the way.

TAL’s first theatrical production, Handy Andy, opened in a professional theater on St. Patrick’s Day in 1879. Though he did not direct the play, Father McGivney served as its de facto executive producer.

The production proved a “smash hit.” Reviews were glowing, and it netted $300 for St. Mary’s — nearly $10,000 in today’s currency. TAL membership soon topped 100.

In 1880, the group staged a more ambitious St. Patrick’s Day play: Pyke O’Callaghan, a patriotic Irish drama performed at the Grand Opera House in New Haven — later destroyed by fire in 1915. Directed by Father McGivney, it featured a large cast, including women — a bold move at a time when female roles were generally played by men. The production sold 1,800 tickets and raised a substantial sum for the debt-laden parish.

After staging shorter sketches and entertainments in 1881, TAL performed Eileen Oge, or Dark’s the Hour Before the Dawn under Father McGivney’s direction on March 17, 1882, before a full house.

Just 12 days later, on March 29, the Knights of Columbus was officially chartered by the state of Connecticut.

Father McGivney’s final theatrical production in New Haven was the newly written My Geraldine, staged on St. Patrick’s Day in 1883 with special permission from nationally acclaimed playwright Bartley Campbell.

During his nearly seven-year tenure at St. Mary’s, Father McGivney helped transform a struggling parish society into a successful theatrical and fundraising enterprise. Through full-scale productions, he provided young working men with a wholesome social outlet that strengthened fraternity and drew them more deeply into the life of the Church.

As Parish Priest summarized, “He was a natural-born director, with a steady stream of newspaper reviews noting that time and again the performers in his shows surpassed all limitations.”

CURTAIN CALL IN THOMASTON

When Father McGivney arrived in Thomaston in mid- November 1884 as pastor of St. Thomas Church, some 10 miles north of his hometown of Waterbury, he discovered that the parish’s Christian Doctrine Society, which numbered nearly 100 members, was already active in drama. Soon he was directing their cast in a production of Eileen Oge at the town’s majestic new opera house on Main Street.

The “fine, old Irish drama,” as the Waterbury Daily American described it in March 1885, included music performed by a symphony orchestra and drew a sold-out audience with “laughter-provoking” performances and “excellent acting.” A year later, on St. Patrick’s Day 1886, Father McGivney reprised Handy Andy before another full house.

Thomaston Opera House Knights.jpg — Mike Burr (left), chairman of the Opera House Commission and past grand knight of Atlantic Council 18, gives a tour of the opera house to brother Knights in February. (Photo by Paul Haring)

In the fall of 1887, after five weeks of rehearsals with the children of the Sunday school, he staged a Thanksgiving recital at the opera house. “It was no mere afternoon recital,” Parish Priest noted, “but a full-blown extravaganza.”

A large audience gathered, and the young thespians gave it their all. Act after act, the crowd responded with roaring laughter and applause.

“Michael McGivney, it seems, had the audience in the palm of his hand — but only because he had his players feeling so good about themselves,” the biography recounts.

The success of these performances reflected Father McGivney’s understanding that music and theater could captivate parishioners and non-Catholics alike.

One St. Thomas parishioner declared, “He has been the best friend to youth since he came here.”

The Thomaston Opera House, erected in 1884 in the heart of the working-class town along the Naugatuck River, served as the community’s cultural center. Father McGivney viewed it as more than a place of secular amusement. He saw it as a stage for building community, strengthening Catholic identity, and funding works of charity.

Father McGivney established Atlantic Council 18 on April 8, 1885, and served as its chaplain, integrating the Knights into the fabric of Thomaston life. Over time, the council regularly hosted events at the theater, showcasing the principles of charity and unity to the wider community.

“In an era before radio or film, Father McGivney recognized that the local play was the primary source of storytelling,” said David Verdosci, an artist and member of Atlantic Council 18.

In 2018, Verdosci co-directed a performance of He Was Our Father, written by Dominican Father Peter John Cameron, portraying Father McGivney on the very stage he once used to serve his parish.

The play emphasized McGivney’s care for widows and orphans — a concern that ultimately inspired Verdosci to join the Order.

“I was touched in that performance by Father McGivney’s care for the everyday needs of people and his genuine concern for their spiritual well-being,” Verdosci said. “Then, seeing this in action through individual Knights was the spark that led me to become a Knight myself.”

“By putting on these high-quality productions, he virtually ensured that the Catholic social circle was the most vibrant one in town,” he added.

A LEGACY IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Father McGivney died in the St. Thomas rectory in 1890 at age 38, but his connection to the Thomaston Opera House did not end with his death. In the decades that followed, the local Knights of Columbus council remained a cornerstone of the theater’s support system.

During the Great Depression and the lean years of the mid-20th century, when many Victorian opera houses across New England were demolished or converted into warehouses, the Thomaston Opera House survived in part because of the community spirit Father McGivney had fostered.

The Knights, including Council 18, continued to use the space for exemplification ceremonies, concerts and balls, memorial services and charitable fundraisers, keeping the building’s heart beating. They also partnered with the opera house for special events, including screenings of documentaries about Father McGivney’s life and commemorative performances.

The theater stands as a living monument to Father McGivney’s belief that the Church must be present wherever the people are.

“He was ahead of his time in recognizing the significance of collaboration with the laity of his parish,” said Brian Caulfield, vice postulator of the cause for canonization of Blessed Michael McGivney. “And the opera house gave him an incredible opportunity to foster that vision.”

A yearslong restoration initiative, currently underway, has renewed the bond between the Knights of Columbus and the historic venue, noted Thomaston Selectman Mike Burr. A past grand knight of Council 18, Burr serves as chairman of the Opera House Commission, which includes several Knights.

“The teamwork and coordination from every member of this committee have been nothing short of amazing,” Burr said.

Jeff Dunn, executive director of Landmark Community Theatre — a nonprofit arts organization that operates the opera house today — said the venue is inextricably linked to the priest who used its stage to connect with the people of Thomaston.

As restoration continues, plans are underway to name part of the opera house in honor of Blessed Michael McGivney.

“The building is kind of a living monument to him,” Dunn said. “We want to demonstrate Father McGivney’s ties to the town, opera house and the spiritual benefits of the performing arts.”

For more information about the Thomaston Opera House, including historical photos and images of the ongoing restoration, visit friendsofthomastonoperahouse.org.

*****

Editor’s Note: Maureen Walther, co-author of The Knights of Columbus: An Illustrated History (2020), contributed to this article.

TROY J. MCMULLEN is a former staff reporter for the Wall Street Journal and currently an executive producer for ABC News in New York City.

Father Patrick J. McGivney and Father John J. McGivney join San Salvador Council 1 in New Haven, Conn., at an unspecified event circa 1904.

A Natural Born Director

STAGESTRUCK IN NEW HAVEN

CURTAIN CALL IN THOMASTON

A LEGACY IN THE SPOTLIGHT

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