DRAMATIC CLUB IN MUSICAL COMEDY

The following review of the musical comedy "Close-Up" to be presented tonight at Brattle Hall by the Harvard Dramatic Club, was written for the Crimson by F. C. Packard '20, Assistant professor of Pulla spanking and former member of the Dramatic Clubs.

The Dramatic Club has partially justified itself in forgetting any "policy" in its spring production.

When it was announced that the Dramatic Club had turned to musical comedy there were many of us who thought it a mistake. The habit of looking to the Club for the few brave glimmers of serious dramatic art still tolerated in this cultural center had so grown upon us that such a drastic change seemed like the breaking of a cherished tradition. So we went to the dress rehearsal last night with a delicately balanced chip on our shoulder. But we came away smiling, eager to record that once when the Dramatic Club chose to be undramatic the result was a gay and tuneful frolic obviously hugely enjoyable to its participants and contagious in its entertainment value.

Spirit of Enjoyment

Audiences will please not look for professional smoothness in the dancing sequences, but they should be charmed by the players' spirit of genuine enjoyment--so refreshingly remote from the frozen smiles of the Broadway hoofers and songsters.

Among the personal triumphs, Mr. John Archer's clear tenor voice was outstanding, but he should try for more pointedness in his spoken parts. Mr. Fonda's clowning did more to keep up the risibility than any other single feature, while Mr. Partridge was especially adept in his dancing specialty. The adagio waltz specialty by Mr. Winter and Miss Frothingham should also prove enjoyable.

The performance successfully refutes the arguments of those die hards who persist in the belief that there are never any pretty girls at Radcliffe. Many will appear at Brattle Hall this week helping to beautify a production that might have been merely amusing without them