“For three nights in the spring of 1969, the auditorium of the Jewish Community Center on Southwest Thirteenth Avenue was filled with the sights and sounds of the historic immigrant neighborhood, as community members performed an original musical production, Whatever Happened to Old South Portland? In the words of director and writer Shirley (Blum) Tanzer, ‘What began as a sophisticated and satiric review . . . evolved into a mixed media musical mishegas with a universal spirit which permeates everyone involved in the show: Jew and non-Jew, committed and uncommitted, old South Portland residents, Irvington residents, New Yorker, Californian, Canadian and Seattleite.’ Invoking the names of familiar businesses, schools, and individuals, the production strove to evoke the historic ethnic neighborhood, recently paved over by urban renewal and freeway construction, while conveying a universal message about the immigrant struggle in America.” - Ellen Eisenberg