Top Banana (musical)

Top Banana
original cast recording
Music	Johnny Mercer
Lyrics	Johnny Mercer
Book	Hy Kraft
Productions	1951 Broadway

Top Banana is a musical with music and lyrics by Johnny Mercer and book by Hy Kraft which premiered on Broadway in 1951. The show was written as a star vehicle for comedian Phil Silvers, who played the host of a television variety show program. Silvers won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical in 1952.

The musical opened on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre on November 1, 1951 and closed on October 4, 1952 after 350 performances. The original cast co-starred Rose Marie, Lindy Doherty, Jack Albertson, Bob Scheerer and Ted "Sport" Morgan. Produced by Paula Stone and Mike Sloane, the musical was directed by Jack Donohue and choreographed by Ron Fletcher, with vocal arrangements and direction by Hugh Martin, musical direction by Harold Hasting, and orchestrations by Don Walker. Scenic and lighting design were by Jo Mielziner and costume design was by Alvin Colt.

The play was filmed and released in a film version by United Artists in 1954.

Jerry Biffle is the star of the Blendo Soap Program. He has been invited to participate in an autograph-signing party for his new book at an important department store. Jerry meets Sally Peters, one of the department store models, and makes her part of his TV troupe. As part of his campaign to court Sally, Jerry gets Cliff Lane, the tenor of his TV company, to sing to her over the phone. When Sally and Cliff meet, they fall in love, with Biffle ignorant of the complications.

Biffle engineers a big publicity wedding between Cliff and "a girl," not knowing that Sally is the girl. To further complicate his life, Jerry learns that he is about to lose his sponsor. The publicity elopement between his girl and Cliff almost shatters his entire career and life.