I changed my approach, so not really solved but not attacking the problem from a different angle. I am by-passing the Citrix storefront and using the Citrix ICA file sent by the server. With this approach, results seem to change from trial to trail. I suspect 1. the state in which I left the previous record/replay is affecting the new replay - maybe because of our Citrix and server configuration, and 2. minute differences in paths changes replay results. These might require inserting functions. Example: previous run replayed ok, this run sticks at a Start window and error mentions window not active - this might just need a function like lr_focus, which I need to reseach now.
A teammate tells me that Citrix replay sometimes needs a lot of attention after the recording is made in order to produce a script suitable for testing multiple users.....
So, for now, with mixed results, I am using a workaround instead of a solution and will return later.