The evening world. Newspaper, February 27, 1904, Page 7

‘ oe THE oe EVENING ~ & WORLD'S ow HOME a MA Our Foreign Representative at the Broadway Notes, ®™»led along this way—was not only Change in Styles of Actirg—Eelieves that ihe Days oi the Malice-Aforefhought Funny Man Are Num- bered—Even in Strenuous Melcdrama the Hero and Heroine Now Keep Down to Earth—‘‘The Public Is a Mighty Good Fellow If You Give It Half a Chaace” —Did You Know He Had Played Shylock and that Once He Nearly Played Hamiet? O, he was not drinking. Our foreign representative at the Broad- way was eating. Dating cough-drops. Not troches, nor lozenges, but—as sure as his name is Raymond Hitchcock!—good, old- fashioned black cough-drops with embossed initial letters. In the course of our chat Mr. Hitchcock took occasion to mention he was a Yankee. He told this as if it were a plece of news. To @ay nothing of Mr. Hitchcock's face—and I'm not going to say anything ebout it—the relish with which he consumed cough-drops spoké plainer than words. “You may notice,” remarked Mr. Hitchcock, crunching the curative confection between his strong, white teeth, “that I am indulging in a ael- leacy which might appropriately be called seasonable,” “Caught cold?” “Yes,” coughing for sympathy. (He coughed very well indeed.) “Yes, wm Broadway, the other night, I stepped Into a puddle. It was very care- Jews of me, but I stepped into a puddle with both feet. You may ‘have noticed that Broadway has been full of puddles of late, not to mention the orthodox number of pitfalls.” He paused a moment, siniling weirdly. “To resume, I hastened to a nearby apothecary's and hoarsely whis- pered, ‘Cough-drops!’ Now, when I go in there, I don’t have to whisper anything. The man knows what I want. I represent the consumer in the cough-drop trade. [ am taking the drops for my voice. It {s not for me to boast that Caruso hurried home when my coming was sunounesd. Still, 1 have a voice, and I need it in my business.” © “You say it was at night you stepped into the puddle?” “Yes, I do not see well at night.” ~ ‘The matter was allowed to rest there. Mr. Hitchcock did not say at what hour of the night his vision was worst, a a rd a a * rl A FTDR we had had a cough drop all around we talked of “art.” Ordinarily I’d rather talk about the weather, or the neighbors, or to Bier: of being naturally funny—almost a lost art until Mr, Hitchrock wt almost anything in fact, but the art of being funny without seeming LETTERS, # QUGRIES # AND # ANSWERS. ficial star, which he produces by elec- tricity. B says there ts nothing of the kind, Which is right? N. BERK. Valuable if Gennine—Probably Net Genuine, To the Balter: J bave a violin with the words “An- tonius Stradivarius Cremonentis, Fa- ‘Wear Black Tie and Black Vest. Go the Editor of The Evening World: Ia {t proper to wear a black tle with @ Tuxedo coat when white vest 8 worn? ALEXANDER H. People's Chorus, Cooper Union, {Mo the Editor of The Fivening World ‘Where can I have my voice cultivated for a small sum? IDA CREMBRIUS. Ko. {o the Editor of The Evening World: aq the word “associate” be used as] @ synonym for “recognize? ayy could not associate you at firs LR. “Auto-mo-beel,” “Sho-fur.” Yo the Bittor of ‘The yening World: ‘What is tho correct pronunciation of “automobile” and “chauffeur?” IGNORAMUS. No License tn Required. So the Editor of The tw pning World: €an)a couple of legal age be ‘mar- ried th any village or city of New York Btate without license? GR. Yes; Mra, Martha Place. ‘Te the Editor of The Evening World: ‘Waa there ever a woman electrocuted in this State? 1f so, who was she? BM, M. No, Ghould Not Be Worn Before 6 P.M, ‘To tie Editor of The Evening World: Is it proper to pay a call in the day- time fn a Tuxedo coat? CR, 7 here In No Edison Star. Given tee sna GATURDAY EVENING, - FEBRUARY 27, 1904. m re iy ng Ja an attractive but @ justifiable topic in unis inetance. In “The Yankee Consul,” as you will doubtless agree, Mr. Hitchcock demonstrates that ‘a comedian in “comie opera," musical comedy,” or whatever managers or authors may be reakless enough to call this very- mwuch-alike form of entertainment, mmy act like a sane, rational being and be twice as amusing as the ‘oom edian” wwo-fooks and acts like noth- ing on earth. Tt was this conviction which led me to ask the newly-arrived whethe he belteved the exaggerated, not to say paretic, out and a new style coming tn. ? seria, PDO 10 the act of taking his elghth cough-drop and grew really pilot change just as styles in clothes change, "he said, “and Thetis Pile e stage is undergoing a change now.” ‘ nds were busy, but Mr. Hitchcock was clearly m earnest. ‘I think that the days of the impossibly srotesque pomedian are num- bered. I mean the comedian who {s labelled, who comes on the stage with an alr which says, ‘I am going to do or say something funny in a minute, and be sure and keep your eye on me.’ Now, to my mind, the public to- day doesn’t have to be told. It 1s too intelligent. And 1t doesn’t want to be told. If anything funny 4s going to happen it prefers to find out for Itself. And {f anything fuany does happen, it will find out. The public is @ mighty good fellow. Give it half an excuse to laugh and it will laugh. It 18 always ready and willing to help an actor along, provided the agtor nesn’t insult its intelligence. When you do that the public, I!ke the mai- vidual Jn every-day life, is very apt to let you severely alone, “The American public {s particularly just, yet-—and I'm a Yankee—I can't help liking the way they do things in England. There is something about a London audience which distinguishes it from all others, It 1s never nolsy unless, perhaps, on a first night, and performances are rarely disturbed by talking in the boxes. The deportment of the English 1s certal ly' admirable, 4 There's no denying they have the best of us"in that respect. T accused Mr. Hitchcock of having read “Dodo" Benson's book, mone Re- lentless City,” but he pleaded not guilty. a a a ro] a Cd a a) sé N actor, lke the rest of the world, must keep up with the times,” ‘went on Mr. Hitcheock, with what sounded like good, hard-shell, Yankee sense, ‘‘He must give the public what It wants. And Just now I think it wants naturalness above everything dise. It at least wants consistency. If you start out to give it one thing, don't give it two things. i i I belleve that ‘Humpty Dumpty’ put on properly, in its original form, and) = clebat, Anno 2718" in it, In tt of any that a boy's mother sets for him ts un- great value? H. 7. C, ) Worthy or beneath his dignity, No Such Word. es = Vulgark A Question of Momon ene wariom, Worth of §, & H, Green Trading Stam ps for the outside Wrapper and ‘Label taken ~ from a 20c. bottle of HOLBROOK SAUCE (the only imported Worcestershire) When presented at any of the Stores owned or operated in any part of the U.S. ‘To the BAitor ot To the Mditer of The Bvening World; Ought « boy of thirteen to dry dishes at night? HENRY R. Yes, {f by so doing he can make his mother’s work any lighte: No task For THIRTY YEARS the Standard cf Purity and Excellence RUNKEL =: BROTHERS Pree type of comedian was going/ exactly what it pretended to be. comm White Hey eck with clever performers, would be an immense success. consistent, that is all, and appeal to the intelligence of the public by being The day has gone by when a play can be absurd if it is not intended to be absurb. Take the cheapet melodramas, for instance. Now, don’t understand me as ridiculing this class of play, for I’m not, I came from the ‘ten-twenty-thirt’ myself.” Mr. Hitchcock grinned and gazed retrospectively at the box of cough-|* drops, “I like melodrama, even yet. I go to a Teal outeand-out melodrama, Whenever I want to really enjoy myself It's the best kind of run. There's Q great deal doing and it is done so thoroughly that you come away secure} in the thought that what has been done can never be umdona” The lean, lower Jaw dropped and a smile travélled merrily {n the direc- tion of ears which bespoke u generous nature. “But even strenuous old melodrama js getting sensible,” he continued. ‘The hero, on finding the heroine wan and anxious, no longer sighs and says, as he places his dlamond-ringed hand on his heart: ‘Ah, Mirlam, what care has brought this shadow to your falr face?" “He knows the house wouldn't stand for it'—that it would ‘give him the la A few years ago that sort of thing would have brought tears and sobs and sold photographs of the ancuished leading lady. Now intelli gence steps in all ready with a laugh that would ‘queer the show,’ Any audience, whether it be on Broadway or in Third avenue, knows that if a young man went to see his girl and found her looking as If she had lost her trading stamps, he wouldn't do the ‘Ah, Miriam!’ specialty. And {t also knows that if he did there would be a strange face in Miriam's parlor ae next onary night.” a we wt a a en sense, that’s the one thing to keep 1n mind, on the stage or Off it,” pursued Wir. Hitehcock, as with the aid of nis dresser no scrambled out of white duck Into evening clothes. “You meet a jamin on the street who greets you with a lot of affectation, and how do Amusements. PROGTOR'S Fos eer $80 25ISL{38 TRE 1 ! re Brae Wea. CONTINUOUS VAUDEVILLE, Ule SPA DOK Wallace Era- tbh: CaPrrAmve. ne eee SINR UG with SAM BERNARD. -Mon.,Wed., Thurs, & T°d'y, Bivea. . ire i bili GRIERION 2 Hleanor SIVOY THEA Kyrle Bellew ar iy? it 7 nie ‘annie RUSSELL 4 ease Gl | 45th ot. kt AM ft nib, ‘hina cit son?" Hud i Sea We MAA. ROBERT Ho | VAUDEVILLE 4a [DALY'S ca | GLITTERING jPAND IDA at N18. Hat cial bes MAT. TO-DAY. coi | Jolly Grass Widows, Yhomnie tome At LADIES’ MAT. TO-DAY. Pretty Moonlight Maids Ww Nieht, Gra | se, Peers srt se sone It would have to be ay FINS summer ein Hi tn | i i i Ha you fecl? You're sorry you didn’t turn the last corner, aren't you? Mcet another chap who gives you a hearty handshake and says he’s glad to see you with a gincerity there's no mistaking and the chances are that five minutes Inter you're opening a locket to show him the picture inside or a bottle with something else inside. Can't tel! me, i've met both of those fellows. What's the charm? every time. Take a bunch of fellows sitting around a table. ‘Ino or three tell stories. ‘hey know they're telling stories ana they're uneasy in the calclum, Suddenly the quiet gentleman who has ‘been busy Keeping nis cigar lighted drops a word that has the true ring. What happens? A laugh all around. Nobody remembers the !aboriously-told stories five min- utes later. But nobody forgets what the heavy smoker took oniy’a moment 0 cay. That's the way on the stage. You must say something that meand something and you must say it naturally.” An excellent illustration of this 1s given by Mr. Hitchcock in that scene where he tells Eva Davenport about a man’s wooden leg paining him —when his wife hit him over the head with ft. It's such an old story that yon gasp at its resurrection, fut you suddenly sea the reason for fig telling it and laugh with the lady when he leans toward you and com. fidentially remarks: “I've got her going!" a a ad s = XT Gore Little Detective"—his favorite play—Mr. Hitchcock kd Bddie Moy. “Woy's always funny to me,” he s@d with that crescent emit ones more threatening to engulf those eloquent ear®> “He's ‘a aweet fooll I don't care what he does. I don’t care what he wears. } commence t rin when I see him coming, I laugh the minute he opens tis mouth, and * when he takes two or three dance steps I am bayond all help. Gis is an‘ ner case of the natural, ‘That's why he can make a fool of himself end a fool of others at the same time, So that’s why I say, if you're going t¢ he a fool try to be a natural fool, And it's @ mighty ot kind of fool t sclully if you get your bread and butter that way.” 1 will you be content to be a ‘fool’ all your life?” hy not?” he asked. ‘Then, with a twinkle in his eye he looked over the collar he was but toning, and said, with just a tincture of pride in that extra dry voloe: , “You'd be surprised if I told you I had played Shylock, wouldn't yout Ihave. And once,” with both rows of teeth showing, “I nearly played N I'm sure you need another coset ay ‘ow, I'm y N be, espe Well, Hamlet. Amusement: | Amusements. HSS AEM FOR FUN LAUGHTER St & Bway, TLENRY WY, masa he mond Hitchcock jan T th the New Comte Opera—T HE MNAT M, Witt's Yankee C SON “MY, REST, MAJESTIC Liss, (ES Mat We « BABESSTOVLAKD. S28. .0%8 LONDEN OF YE SIC ing Ph ary: 1F Ha ae iN DE ANGELIS hae Om Do eracua Newt vs PRINCE OF PILSE! ru! Powe s Don ey Quincy ‘Adams ‘Satypers na Vlay Wetter CBI nee ay CROSMAN {4120 KEITH'S ye & 8 STAR tiiax IN GHECKERS, Mai 'to-day, Next We, Our New Minister, ;, [TEMPEST Naturalness. That's what wins you -