The Playgoer

Top Banana is an old burlesque term for the star of the show, the main act on the bill, the comedian with the baggiest pants. In Hy Kraft's story, the Top Banana has reached the highest point in the amusement industry. He has his own television show.

He is brash, a ham who can only live when he is surrounded by admirers, a yukster who thrives on the attention of millions but who longs for the simple life of the vaudeville stage.

Phil Silvers plays the role to perfection, coming so close to a caricature of Milton Berle, that much of the possible humor is lost in genuine disgust for the man who can not share the spotlight with anyone.

The rambunctious shenanigans of the Top Banana are mounted in a colorful setting of good tunes and bad jokes. With Johnny Mercer responsible for words and music of some 16 songs it is hard to see how so much of the music should be so good while the lyrics are so bad. Several of the tunes are excellent; one, a comedy bit called "A Word A Day," is as clever as anything that appeared on Broadway last season, but the general level is much lower.

The production is paced very fast, so fast that much of the humorous material flies by before the audience has a chance to realize what has happened. Playing a ham comedian, Silvers is forced to quip almost incessantly, a factor which becomes trying after the first hour or so.

But a number called the "Top Banana Ballet" in the second act is alone worth the price of admission. Silvers stands on a darkened stage, and as he thinks of his old days in vaudeville, the burlesque stage comes alive. Six baggy-pants comedians put on a display of double takes, dance steps and routines, a chorus line reminiscent of the Old Howard girls parades across the stage, and a strip tease dancer bumps and grinds. Silvers relives his former role, complete with cane and straw hat, singing, mugging and thoroughly enjoying himself. And the audience enjoys itself too.

Although Top Banana will no doubt be a commercial success, it is not a smooth, finished musical production. There are many slow spots, and many, many bad gags. But the things that are good are very good. A girl named Rose Marie sings a couple of songs in the grand musical comedy tradition, Silvers' sidekick, Jack Albertson, is a very funny man, and Mielziner's sets are tops.

If you're a patient person, you might enjoy this show.