Along Fifth Avenue

Nancy Walker, former lady taxi-driver, has come a long way from the tough little tyke of her earlier musicals. In "Along Fifth Avenue" a new revue now in its final week here, she shows considerable development and improvement in her clowning and has acquired finesse--or is it moderation--in her delivery that is going to make her the funniest woman on the American stage.

Her singing voice is pleasant but weak and is not (as with Ethel Merman, her partner and predecessor in this glorification of vulgarity) a thing which is funny in itself. Miss Walker must rely on her wide variety of comical walks, certain headgear which always manages to get in her eyes, outlandish get-ups which frequently hide all but that jutting chin, and a face that could never be forgiven, were it anything but funny. Above all this, Miss Walker has the common touch. (To which she would surely reply: "If its common, I got it.")

Unfortunately, it usually seems that her material is not on a par with her talents, and such is the case in "Along Fifth Avenue." It may always be the case since apparently the only ones to complain are the reviewers who have to say something anyhow. There is one really hilarious sketch in which she appears as a salesman for a torrid perfume whose motto is "When Nature Fumbles, We Carry the Ball." In most of the other skits she has little to do: in one she stands behind a restaurant counter and pushes a pie in a customer's face; in another she soberly walks across the stage in a straight line, carrying a pair of skis and is very funny just doing that; in another she serves as a bean-bag for a couple of South American caballeros.

The title of this revue has nothing to do with most of the episodes, but some of the lyric writers (there are several) must have felt that another musical with a New York theme was about due, a month or so having lapsed since the last one. Consequently there are a couple of songs in which the chorus shouts loud hosannas for such things as Rockefeller Center, the subway system, Lord & Taylor (remember the dear dead days when everybody was singing songs about Macy's?), and, of course, Fifth Avenue. "From Dubuque to Westminster Abbey they want the Fifth Avenue Look," they chant. And there's the inevitable song about how lonely a fellow can be in this big town with all the people 'round. This one is followed by a ballet number on the same theme which employs every cliche of dance and plot. It is very well danced by Viola Essen, but Markova couldn't make choreography interesting.

Aside from Misses Walker and Essen, the cast includes Jackie Gleason, Carol Bruce, Hank Ladd, and Johnny Coy, all of whom possess a variety of entertaining talents. "Along Fifth Avenue" is just one more of those uneven affairs; Nancy Walker is responsible for what smooth, bright spots there are, but the rest of its is not unpleasant.