Abie’s Irish Rose, a Forgotten Hit Comedy of the American Stage

A conversation with Eric Grode, director of the Goldring Arts Journalism and Communications program at Syracuse University

Just because something is popular doesn’t mean it will withstand the test of time. One of those massive box office successes that has since faded into obscurity is Abie’s Irish Rose, a play that premiered in 1922 and was reviled by critics even as it became the longest-running show in Broadway history up to that point.

Eric Grode, who wrote about Abie’s Irish Rose in the New York Times for the centenary of its Broadway premiere, joins us to examine this strange and revealing chapter in American theatrical history.