The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-20

charmingly the leading role or Jethert "The Prodigal Son." in the splendid spectacular play, "The wanderer," has
 it plus.
 Youth, good looks, wonderful
 splendid mentality and appreciation of
 the beautiful in poetry and art.
 Mir. Frazer is a typical matinee idol"
 his clear, brown eyes and broad, smooth forehead. his black, wavy hair and dark,
 olive skin, give him distinguished and
 attractive appearance, while he is a
 modern Beau Brummer' in dress and bearing.
 There are few leading men of the old type to be seen these days on the stage;
 the James K. Hacketts, the Bruce Me
 Raes, the James O'Neills and the Con-
 way Tearles are few and far between,
 and when one does meet m attractive
 looking leading man, whom you don't
 have to stop and wonder about how he
 ever got to be a leading man, or why
 anybody could be so short-sighted as to
 feature" such an one, and thousand
 and one other why's and wherefores, It
 gives Zest to the interview and rest to the public which is given over .o such musings.
 MT. Frazer will be remembered here
 by theatregoers as the talented young actor who played the title role of Ben Hur" few years ago, and how splen-
 didly he enacted the part and how much
 praise was accorded him in the diff
 cult role.
 Before that however, he had achieved renowned success on Broadway for his excellent interpretat tion of various other characters, particularly his Romeo" to
 Miss Julia Arthur's Juliet" which at
 tracted the attention of the entire the
 atrical world.
 One distinct advantage that young
 Mir. Frazer has over many other actors
 is his beautifully modulated voice; his deep, sonorous, tones lend themselves charmingly to the reading of lines that are classical and poetical. and he gener- ously gives much of the credit of the use of his voice to Miss Arthur, the noted actress with whom he was asso ciated in "the very mig of time.' when impressions meant great deal to him.
 'I probably never will play Shakes peare again." said MT. Frazer, when he was talking with me yesterday shortly after his arrival here. First, because one must grow up on Shakespeare, have it born and bred in the bone. as it were, rather than study it. Waller Hampden, who has made such a magnificent sue cess of his Shakesperean activities. in vited me to join his company this sea son. but I declined the flattering invi- tation. in order to play Jether in The Wanderer.'
 Mir Mantell presents wonderful Shakespearean productions" continued , Mir. Frazer. as does MT. Sothern, and. by the way, my predecessor as Jether in | The Wanderer. MT. Frederick Lewis, is now playing in Shakespearean roper toire with MT. Sothern.
 "The Wanderer' is very nearly akin l to Shakespeare, however. although more 1 romantic" said MT. Frazer. "It is writ l ten in the most exquisite blank verse, and in order to be able to play the role of Jether I fancy that one whose mind l had not poetical turn, would find 1t | rather difficult. There are many pas sages in the play which are equally as beautiful as Shakespeare. I suppose l the training I had with Miss Arthur | taught me to appreciate blank verse | and to read it intelligently; not as many 1 actors of today read it. in rhythmic manner, but just as though the liner 1 flowed continuously from the lips with out regard to the meter.
 Those actors who recite blank verse in sing-song manner do not do full 1 justice to the wonderful melody which is possible in reading blank verse. For instance, in the passage in The Wan derer' in which I describe the city of my dreams there are as fine lines as have ever been written In the English language. Absolutely pure enunciation and perfect diction both are required in
 order to give an intelligent and intellec- tual reading of the lines.
 "The poets soul responds to the classical meter of blank verse" said MT Frazer, land I have always loved poetry loved it with a passion that is 1 almost as great as my passion for his- tory, or mechanics. which are my hob bes. As a child I read poetry, memor- 1 ized it. and loved it. and so when l grew up and decided to become an ac- tor. I continued my reading and study ! of poetical works. Then I found my | self drifting to romantic plays--the 1 'BenHur' type, Ire Wanderer. And l by the way, one of the most difficult
 roles that has ever been written is
 Jether in The Wanderer.' It requires i: wonderful versatility to play it. for first there is youth--wild enthusia stic, irre- sponsible youth-to be portrayed And
 then comes the riotous period of adoles-
 cence. the intrepid unbridled desire for sensation, and knowledge and exper- fence. and then the return home-the 1 old. broken man, almost a hundred years old it would seem. These three l distinct types must be portrayed and 1 it is very difficult to do them
 ] "Another thing. it is rather a thank less part. that of Jether." MT. Frazer :, said, for one step over the mark and | the audience absolutely despises the hero. He must stick to the conservative ! and conventional portrayal of the role, l else all the sympathy of the audience which is little enough to begin with, goes flying out the window.
 Many people have asked me about
 reading the history of the period of three thousand years ago.~when Jeru- 1 salem. with its quaint manners and ! from anything that we know or hear | of now, but I had very little studying l to do, as I was rather familiar with the always read with great interest I en- poy it. l love to study and read of the wonderful things that happened back in l the old days. so in that respect also I l was rather fortunate The Wanderer' struck a happy response in my heart l for these very reasons. and loved the play from the beginning. There is so much to it so much beauty and poetry. and, of course, no greater story has ever been penned than the story of The Prodigal Son. which the The Wanderer' III We Dye Expertly |