The Theater: Hot Line of Goods

IRENE

A MUSICAL REVIVAL

Directed by GOWER CHAMPION

The nostalgia craze is on the wane in the theater, and Irene demonstrates what happens toward the end of such entertainment boomlets. The content becomes a commodity. Even though it is supposedly set in 1919, the year in which the original musical was produced, the show is not nostalgic about anything. It fails to evoke a mood, a tone, a memory of any clearly definable period or place. It is strictly a product of the Broadway showshops peddling nostalgia per se, just as they peddled nudity per se two or three seasons ago as another hot...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!