New Revue in Manhattan

John Murray Anderson's Almanac

(music & lyrics by Richard Adler & Jerry Ross), by falling into the class of the big, bountiful revue, also falls into a kind of trap. What is good about the show is the sort of sketches, spoofs, monologues and comedians that make for a pert, sassy, intimate revue. The minute the Almanac begins to doll up in diamonds and pearls, it begins to get dull. The whole thing seems like trying to pull off a gay, bohemian party in a state dining room.

Pacing the comedy are two attractive newcomers to Broadway: England's well known Hermione Gingold, a grand-mannered low comedienne, and New England's Billy De Wolfe. The two of them team up to perfection in a hilarious sketch about an elderly grand dame's imaginary dinner party, where the butler gets wildly drunk. The show also offers a bright young monologuist, Orson Bean, and a very funny Drama Quartette treatment of Mickey Spillane.

Whenever the Almanac abandons humor for something lyrical or high-toned, it seems printed in painfully small type. Beyond some admirable show girls, there is very little show. There are assorted numbers concerning Pierrots and Ziegfeld bridal processions. There is nothing in the least spectacular about the dancing, and there is something downright dismal about most of the songs. By spending half the money, the show would probably have proved twice the fun.

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