The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1909-03-07
Three Leading FunmakerS
Meet Three Primal Re-
quirements Of Their Art.
HOPPER AND BRIAN
HAVE ADVANTAGE
But Hitchcock Makes Good De-
spite Handicap in Barren
Wastes of Burnt Cork.
By ALLEN D. ALBERT, JR.

Poor Sam, His face got that red,
DeWolf Hopper always makes him
laugh like that"
The good-natured and portly lady who
said this had one elbow on a table in
q lunch room and made her cup OF
Yea snake as she remembered the genial
ana The Pied Piper Of Hamlin."
> was not talking for publication
But she was unconsciouslv giving in
public precisely that form Of testimony
which NJ Hopper would like most to
earn.
We are not given. most of us. to
thinking OF comedians as artists. ANY
thing 10 get a laugh is their platform,
We think and we rate them successes
according TO their effect on us person
ally. The audience laughed like lot
OF ntnnieS,S we say sometimes, or
My. my! Such truck Yet there may
be as much skill then manifest on the
stage as in the most high-falutin' DO
etc drama or melancholy ira edy ever
written In blank verse.
The first test OF comedy like that
offered this past week at the Belasco
Does It deliver the goods? Do the
audiences laugh? Is the patronage a
proof of interest?
In the end, that is only another state
n1ent OF the general test as TO all the
atrical art-DOes it strike homer If ii IS
Ike the comedy of Henry r. Di&ey
and makes US say How. clever." in
a success. It may be artistry, but It
Is not art.
The next test is;
Does il amuse persons OF discernment2
Does il please grown ups able 20 dis
criminals between Anticipated Merry
Andrews and real fun2 Is the fun CT
the kind which sends up from the
theater little ashamed of ourselves
for laughing or Of the kind we like TO
remember? In other words: Is the fun
! serious?
Finally, from the position Of the in
telligent theatergoeT, we must ask:
Is the comedy which answers these
Two tests yet held within the reason
able limitations of the character which
the comedian essays 20 aCt2 This is the
most limited measure OF the three 1t
Is the gauge Of the comedian as an
artist in the most special sense.
Deliver the Goods
We have not the pleasure Of knowing
poor sam. But for ourselves we can
say that MI Hopper and Nr. Brian
meet all three of these conditions ac-
ceptably. An inartistic comedian might
ruin the leading roles of either The
Pied Piper or The Merry Widow"
The former suffers from too much
casey at zines, and the latter from too
little singing. The one has too much
voice. the other too little. But they
ElTc measure ana ItleF EeNG1il 80 k1UCll
capabiiity the wonder is. as one leave
the theater. nor so muSn that these
two actors do SO well as that they do
not do still better
Robert z. Graham. the ambassador IN
THE Merry Widow. belongs by every
gauge fin the rank OF successful comic
opera comedians. He and Mr.. Hopper
have both covered the widest range
Of fun-making to music. A young man
who IS Just beginning 70 feel gray
haired can recall them both as they
were twenty years ago Mr. Hopper
was the King in a performance by the
old Boston Ideals Of The Lady or the
Tiger" Mr. Graham was still baSkine
IN the sunshine OF The Little Tycoon
Since then what have they not DONE
When assigned 10 his present role, Mr.
y Graham saw its problems and its oppor
TURTLES by instinct He had 10 act
possible ambassador. a man accustomed
10 the manners and refinements OF th'
most formal continental society NJ
buffooHeTy here. save as Il could b'
conforned with such life.
So the first act was set apart prima
Tily for creating an Illusion. The audi
ence must be made to see this characte
az an aTnba ador-that was the frs
task. not evoking smiles The very lif'
- Of so good an opera required IT, Whel
so much had been done. then and Onl'
then could the real comedian think o
the fun for which he is paid his salar!
OF $500 a week (Ofteu more and Otter
less.
The answer is TO be learned at an.
performance OF The Widow by thi
company. And in Nh Graham
marked success there is hardly q thea
tergoer who has followed the develop
rnent Of comic opera into a true ar
form in these past two decades who vii
not md genuine pleasure
Face(s) Difficulty
Raymond Hitchcock. over at the CO
lumbia had still another comedy diff
Guilty. He had 10 do all that Mr. Hop
per. Mr. Brian and Mr.. Graham ha,
70 do and with this extra handfcap n
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