DE WOLF HOPPER FINDS GLAMOR OF STAGE UNDIMMED AFTER HALF CENTURY'S ACTING

"You'll hear many people tell you that the glamor of the stage wears off quickly, but I have not found it so," De Wolf Hopper, whose career as a comic actor dates back to the last quarter of the nineteenth century, yesterday told a CRIMSON reporter.

Mr. Hopper was so pressed for time that the interview took place in public, unless a car parked in the midst of the Tremonts Street traffic can be considered as privacy. In apologizing for this haste that made such an informal meeting necessary, Mr. Hopper explained that in all they years that he has been on the stage, only two weeks have been spent in vacations.

As Fond of Theatre as Ever

"Mind you," Mr. Hopper said, "I'm not complaining about this state of affairs. It like the theatre, and I'm just as fond of it today as I was 50 years ago. The glamor of the bright lights is still there.

"The particular reason that I'm so pressed for time right now," Mr. Hopper continued, "is that besides, acting in "The Student Prince', I am also rehearsing for another play. I won't be able to chat with you very long, as I'm expecting my wife almost any minute," he added, and the reporter noticed that for the remainder of the interview the comedian kept glancing alternately out of the four sides of the car with an impatient look on his face.

Is Actor of Old School

Mr. Hopper is distinctly an actor of the old school. There is nothing that suggests Broadway about his attire, and his speech and manners are just the opposite of what passes among comedians nowadays as "smart". His choice of words and his enunciation is of a high order, and the deep-cheated volume and resonance of his speech suggests blank verse rather that humorous sally.

Although Mr. Hopper does not regret his career as a comedian, he admits that most humorous actors have a longing to appear in tragic roles. Mr. Hopper told the reporter that he had started as a tragical actor, but that his voice drew him into the musical field. "I have sometimes nurtured an ambition to make my audience weep, and of all the roles I have played on the stage, my favorite is that of Jack Point in Gilbert and Sullivan's 'Yeoman of the Guard', a strolling jester who dies of a broken heart. I revel in that little touch of pathos."

Names Favorite Roles

Old Bill in "The Better 'Ole", Ko-Ko in the "Mikado", and his present role as Lutz in the "Student Prince", Mr. Hopper declared were probably the most interesting characters of the many that he has portrayed.

Asked by his interviewer to name the composers of comic opera whom he considered to be the most notable, Mr. Hopper protested that such a request was beyond his power. "Gilbert and Sullivan, I think, will never die. They are to the English musical stage what Shakespeare is to the drama. But there are many other composers of considerable skill. The think that distinguishes a mediocre man from the skillful composer is that the latter fits the music to the scene, while the former merely writes notes that have no particular continuity, though they may be very tuneful."

Light Opera Returns to Favor

That light opear is returning to vogue was the opinion ventured by Mr. Hopper. "We haven't," he said, "as much of it now as we once had, but we certainly are beginning to see more light operas than we have for many years. I doubt that the Shuberts ever have made as much money in their history as they recently did with 'Blossom Time', and operetta built around the life and music of Franz Schuberts. "The Student Prince" is still another case in point. Light opera may or may not be back to stay. It will be the public's loss if it is not, but then I walk warily in the paths of prophecy."

Boston Audiences Praised

Boston audiences, much maligned by most visiting actors, received a kind word from Mr. Hopper. "Boston audiences," he averred, "are as appreciative as any that you can find. It's true that they do not applaud as pronouncedly as audiences do in some places, for instance, New York. But New York audiences are deceptive in that they do not represent the citizens of that city. The people you play to in New York are excursionists from all over the country, and they have the excursionist spirit. But the real New York audience, the one you get on Saturday night can be as blase and as cold as ice.

"Here in Boston, you don't get so many out-of-towners, and so the audience is more representative. For this reason, there is none of the 'cutting loss' so characteristic of excursionists. Boston, however, provides as good a 'laughing audience' as you can get. They laugh, but they do not applaud, and perhaps this is why they have their bad reputation. Boston audiences are appreciative, and they are intelligent. The little subtleties are noticed, but they are acknowledged by laughter rather than by applause."

Gilbert and Sullivan are Supreme

Asked why he classed Gilbert and Sullivan so far ahead of all other composers of musical plays, the veteran actor replied, "Gilbert and Sullivan are immortal because each was a genius with an infinite appreciation of the other. Gilbert was, I think, the greatest come poet of the language, Sullivan was an accomplished composer, without compare in his particular field. Together they rose to heights that would have been unattainable for each single. Gilbert and Sullivan were the perfect union of sense and sound. Sullivan's music matches wit for wit, and gibe for gibe, with Gilbert's book and lyrics. There is not a note which is not in harmony with the spirit of the words; not a lyric or a verse which does not tell the story. In Gilbert and Sullivan you won't find any padding, stuffing's, or irrelevancies, and that is why their plays have endured so long."