Theater: New Musical in Manhattan, Mar. 2, 1953

Maggie (book by Hugh Thomas; music & lyrics by William Roy), trying to halve its cake and eat it too, attempted to reduce What Every Woman Knows to a libretto with musicomedy icing. But though it took pains to preserve the Barrie spirit. Maggie lacked the right winsome plainness and eventually turned downright dull.

English Actress Betty Paul caught Maggie to perfection, while Keith Andres’ John Shand was authentically yet attractively dour. But the two of them were sadly outnumbered by flat tunes, insipid ballets and country-cousin stabs at sophistication. Maggie, which closed at week’s end, seemed less a revamping of a favorite play than a revival of a long-buried musical.