Finian's Rainbow
Encyclopedia
Finian's Rainbow is a musical
with a book by E.Y. Harburg
and Fred Saidy
, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Burton Lane
. The 1947 Broadway
production ran for 725 performances. Several revivals and a 1968 film version
followed. A Broadway revival ran from October 8, 2009 until January 17, 2010. The Irish-tinged score also includes gospel
and R&B influences.
Finian moves to the southern United States (the fictional state of Missitucky is a humorous combination of Mississippi
and Kentucky
) from Ireland with his daughter Sharon, to bury a stolen pot of gold near Fort Knox
, in the mistaken belief that it will grow. A leprechaun
follows them, desperate to recover his treasure before the loss of it turns him permanently human. Complications arise when a bigoted and corrupt U.S. Senator gets involved, and when wishes are made inadvertently over the hidden crock. All ends happily.
satire
, the plot revolves around Finian McLonergan, who has emigrated from Ireland
to the town of Rainbow Valley in the mythical state of Missitucky with his daughter Sharon, intent on burying a stolen pot of gold in the shadows of Fort Knox
, in the belief it will grow and multiply. Hot on their heels is Og, a leprechaun
intent on recovering his treasure, before the loss of it turns him permanently human. Complicating matters are a corrupt senator who makes no effort to conceal his racial bigotry
and the wishes made by those unknowingly in the vicinity of the hidden crock, including Sharon, who gives the senator a taste of his own hateful medicine by accidentally turning him black (temporarily). In the ultimate happy ending, Sharon marries the handsome, cocky young Woody Mahoney; and Woody's mute sister, "Susan the Silent", acquires the power of speech and falls in love with Og, who decides that being human is not so bad after all.
The original Broadway
production opened on January 10, 1947 at the 46th Street Theatre, where it ran for 725 performances. It was directed by Bretaigne Windust
, choreographed by Michael Kidd
, with orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett
and Don Walker
. The cast included Ella Logan
as Sharon, Donald Richards
as Woody, Albert Sharpe
as Finian, with the Lyn Murray
Singers. David Wayne
won both the Tony Award
for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (the first one ever given) and the Theatre World Award
for his performance as Og. The show also received Tonys for Best Conductor and Musical Director (Milton Rosenstock
) and Best Choreography.
A London production opened at the Palace Theatre
on October 21, 1947, running for only 55 performances.
Revivals from 1955 to 2004
Finian's Rainbow was revived three times on Broadway by the New York City Center
Light Opera Company. The brief 1955 production, directed by William Hammerstein and choreographed by Onna White
, starred Helen Gallagher
, Merv Griffin
, and Will Mahoney, who was nominated for a Tony as Best Featured Actor in a Musical. In 1960, Herbert Ross
directed and choreographed a cast that included Jeannie Carson
, Bobby Howes
, Howard Morris
, Sorrell Booke
, and Robert Guillaume
. A third revival was staged by the company in 1967. Although major revivals of the musical have been rare in recent decades, as the musical's treatment of bigotry against blacks
in the American South
has become dated, in 2004 the Irish Repertory Theatre
staged a well-received off-Broadway
production starring Melissa Errico
and Malcolm Gets
.
Film adaptations
In the mid-1950s an animated
feature film
adaptation
began production, directed by John Hubley
. The crew included Art Babbit, Bill Tytla
and Paul Julian
. Among the cast were Frank Sinatra
, Ella Fitzgerald
, Oscar Peterson
, Louis Armstrong
, Barry Fitzgerald
, Jim Backus
and David Burns
plus David Wayne and Ella Logan from the original Broadway production. The era's McCarthyism
caused financing to be withdrawn due to Hubley's refusal to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Pre-production
artwork, sketches from the storyboard
, character designs, the script and some of the soundtrack recording have been recovered. Examples of the art and designs were published in the March/April 1993 issue of Print
to illustrate an article by animation historian John Canemaker
about the backstory of the project.
A 1968
film version
with Fred Astaire
, Tommy Steele
and Petula Clark
was directed by Francis Ford Coppola
.
2009 Encores! Concert and Broadway revival
New York's City Center Encores!
series performed a concert version of the musical from March 26, 2009 through March 29. Directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle
, it starred Jim Norton
and Kate Baldwin
as Finian and Sharon, with Cheyenne Jackson
as Woody and Jeremy Bobb as Og, the leprechaun.
A fully staged Broadway revival opened at the St. James Theatre
on October 29, 2009, with most of the Encores! cast and director-choreographer Carlyle returning. Notable replacements to the cast were Christopher Fitzgerald
as Og, David Shramm as Senator Rawkins and Chuck Cooper
as Rawkins transformed into a black man. Ernest Harburg, Yip Harburg's son and president of the Harburg Foundation, said "The satire of our economic system is particularly relevant right now [2009], given the nation’s deep financial woes."
The producers closed the show on January 17, 2010, stating that the "economic realities of Broadway today" did not allow them to play for as long as they had hoped. The production sold approximately two-thirds of its seats for the 15-week run. Garth Drabinsky
offered to try to rescue the revival and secure Canadian tour commitments, but the producers rejected his proposal.
The show has been nominated for 2010 Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Baldwin) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Fitzgerald).
A short spoof was part of episode 19 of the 1970 season of Monty Python's Flying Circus
Act II
1948 Tony Awards
1956 Tony Awards
2010 Tony Awards
2010 Drama Desk Awards
2010 Outer Critics Circle Award
An original cast recording released as a six-disc 78 rpm set by Columbia Records
was the label's first recording of a Broadway musical. The label used the album to introduce its new LP
format in June 1948. In 1988, the album was released on CD, and in 2000, a second CD version appeared that was remastered from the original acetates and restored some material originally recorded but cut from the show, including three bonus tracks in which Harburg discusses the writing of and sings "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" and "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love," as well as singing "Don't Pass Me By," a song cut from the show. http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Finian's%20Rainbow%20%5BOriginal%20Broadway%20Cast%5D:1921064852
A recording of the original cast of the 1960 Broadway production, starring Jeannie Carson, Howard Morris, Biff mcGuire, Carol Brice, Sorrell Booke and Bobby Howes was released on RCA Victor LSO-1057.
A cast recording of the 2009 revival was recorded on December 7 by PS Classics and released on February 2, 2010.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
with a book by E.Y. Harburg
Yip Harburg
Edgar Yipsel Harburg , known as E.Y. Harburg or Yip Harburg, was an American popular song lyricist who worked with many well-known composers...
and Fred Saidy
Fred Saidy
Fred Saidy was an American playwright and screenwriter.Born in Los Angeles, California, Saidy began his writing career in 1943 with the screenplay for the Red Skelton comedy I Dood It. The following year, he scripted both the Lucille Ball-Dick Powell feature film Meet the People and the book for...
, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Burton Lane
Burton Lane
Burton Lane was an American composer and lyricist. His most popular and successful work is the musical Finian's Rainbow, "the score for which Lane will always be most remembered."-Biography:...
. The 1947 Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production ran for 725 performances. Several revivals and a 1968 film version
Finian's Rainbow (film)
Finian's Rainbow is a 1968 American musical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola that stars Fred Astaire and Petula Clark. The screenplay by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy is based on their 1947 stage musical of the same name.-Plot:...
followed. A Broadway revival ran from October 8, 2009 until January 17, 2010. The Irish-tinged score also includes gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
and R&B influences.
Finian moves to the southern United States (the fictional state of Missitucky is a humorous combination of Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
and Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
) from Ireland with his daughter Sharon, to bury a stolen pot of gold near Fort Knox
Fort Knox
Fort Knox is a United States Army post in Kentucky south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. The base covers parts of Bullitt, Hardin, and Meade counties. It currently holds the Army Human Resources Center of Excellence to include the Army Human Resources Command, United States Army Cadet...
, in the mistaken belief that it will grow. A leprechaun
Leprechaun
A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology...
follows them, desperate to recover his treasure before the loss of it turns him permanently human. Complications arise when a bigoted and corrupt U.S. Senator gets involved, and when wishes are made inadvertently over the hidden crock. All ends happily.
Synopsis
A combination of whimsy, romance, and politicalPolitics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
, the plot revolves around Finian McLonergan, who has emigrated from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
to the town of Rainbow Valley in the mythical state of Missitucky with his daughter Sharon, intent on burying a stolen pot of gold in the shadows of Fort Knox
Fort Knox
Fort Knox is a United States Army post in Kentucky south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. The base covers parts of Bullitt, Hardin, and Meade counties. It currently holds the Army Human Resources Center of Excellence to include the Army Human Resources Command, United States Army Cadet...
, in the belief it will grow and multiply. Hot on their heels is Og, a leprechaun
Leprechaun
A leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology...
intent on recovering his treasure, before the loss of it turns him permanently human. Complicating matters are a corrupt senator who makes no effort to conceal his racial bigotry
Bigotry
A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs...
and the wishes made by those unknowingly in the vicinity of the hidden crock, including Sharon, who gives the senator a taste of his own hateful medicine by accidentally turning him black (temporarily). In the ultimate happy ending, Sharon marries the handsome, cocky young Woody Mahoney; and Woody's mute sister, "Susan the Silent", acquires the power of speech and falls in love with Og, who decides that being human is not so bad after all.
Production history
Original productions in New York and LondonThe original Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production opened on January 10, 1947 at the 46th Street Theatre, where it ran for 725 performances. It was directed by Bretaigne Windust
Bretaigne Windust
Bretaigne Windust was a French-born theatre, film, and television director.-Early life:He was born Ernest Bretaigne Windust in Paris, France, the son of English violin virtuoso Ernest Joseph Windust and singer Elizabeth Amory Day from New York City...
, choreographed by Michael Kidd
Michael Kidd
Michael Kidd was an American film and stage choreographer.-Life and career:Born Milton Greenwald in New York City on the Lower East Side, the son of Abraham Greenwald, an immigrant barber, and his wife Lillian, Michael Kidd moved to Brooklyn with his family and attended New Utrecht High School there...
, with orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett
Robert Russell Bennett
Robert Russell Bennett was an American composer and arranger, best known for his orchestration of many well-known Broadway and Hollywood musicals by other composers such as Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers. In 1957 and 2008, Bennett received Tony Awards...
and Don Walker
Don Walker (orchestrator)
Don Walker was a prolific Broadway orchestrator, who also composed music for musicals and one film and worked as a conductor in television.-Biography:...
. The cast included Ella Logan
Ella Logan
Ella Logan was a Scottish-born actress and singer, who appeared on Broadway, recorded and had a nightclub career in the United States and internationally.-Early years:...
as Sharon, Donald Richards
Donald Richards
Donald Richards was an American singer and actor.Richards was born in New York City and died in a road accident in Ridgewood, New Jersey.-Musical Theater Credits:*1943 Winged Victory*1947 Finian's Rainbow...
as Woody, Albert Sharpe
Albert Sharpe
Albert Sharpe was an Irish stage and film actor. His most famous roles were those of Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People and as Finian McLonergan in the Broadway stage production of the musical Finian's Rainbow...
as Finian, with the Lyn Murray
Lyn Murray
Lyn Murray was a composer, conductor, and arranger of music for radio, film and television.Born as Lionel Breeze in London, he arrived on American shores to found the Lyn Murray Singers, who became known throughout the United States as the featured group on CBS Radio’s Your Hit Parade...
Singers. David Wayne
David Wayne
David Wayne was an American actor with a career spanning nearly 50 years.-Early life and career:...
won both the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (the first one ever given) and the Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
for his performance as Og. The show also received Tonys for Best Conductor and Musical Director (Milton Rosenstock
Milton Rosenstock
Milton Rosenstock was an American conductor, composer, and arranger. Trained at the Juilliard School, he was highly active as a musical director for Broadway musicals from 1942 through 1980; serving in that capacity for 29 productions, including the original productions of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ,...
) and Best Choreography.
A London production opened at the Palace Theatre
Palace Theatre, London
The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. It is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus and is located near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road...
on October 21, 1947, running for only 55 performances.
Revivals from 1955 to 2004
Finian's Rainbow was revived three times on Broadway by the New York City Center
New York City Center
New York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
Light Opera Company. The brief 1955 production, directed by William Hammerstein and choreographed by Onna White
Onna White
Onna White was a Canadian choreographer and dancer nominated for eight Tony Awards.-Career:Born in Inverness, Nova Scotia, White began taking dance lessons at the age of twelve, and eventually her studies took her to the famed San Francisco Ballet Company, where she danced in the first full-length...
, starred Helen Gallagher
Helen Gallagher
Helen Gallagher is an American actress, dancer, singer and makeup artist.-Early years:Born in Brooklyn, she was raised in Scarsdale, New York for several years until the Wall Street crash which heralded the Great Depression, and her family moved to the Bronx. Her parents separated and she was...
, Merv Griffin
Merv Griffin
Mervyn Edward "Merv" Griffin, Jr. was an American television host, musician, actor, and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer who went on to appear in movies and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 Griffin hosted his own talk show, The Merv Griffin Show on Group W Broadcasting...
, and Will Mahoney, who was nominated for a Tony as Best Featured Actor in a Musical. In 1960, Herbert Ross
Herbert Ross
Herbert Ross was an American film director, producer, choreographer and actor.-Early life and career:Born Herbert David Ross in Brooklyn, New York, he made his stage debut as Third Witch with a touring company of Macbeth in 1942...
directed and choreographed a cast that included Jeannie Carson
Jeannie Carson
Jeannie Carson is a retired English-born United States-based comedienne and musical theatre actress...
, Bobby Howes
Bobby Howes
Bobby Howes, born as Charles Robert William Howes on 4 August 1895 in Battersea, England. His parents were Robert William Howes and Rose Marie Butler.- Biography :...
, Howard Morris
Howard Morris
Howard Morris was an American comic actor and director who was best known for his role as Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show.- Life and career :...
, Sorrell Booke
Sorrell Booke
Sorrell Booke was an American actor who performed on stage, screen, and television. He is best known for his role as the heavyset, corrupt politician "Boss" Hogg in the television show The Dukes of Hazzard....
, and Robert Guillaume
Robert Guillaume
Robert "Bob" Guillaume is an American stage and television actor, best known for his role as Benson Du Bois on the TV-series Soap and the spin-off Benson, voicing the mandrill Rafiki in The Lion King and as Isaac Jaffe on Sports Night...
. A third revival was staged by the company in 1967. Although major revivals of the musical have been rare in recent decades, as the musical's treatment of bigotry against blacks
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
in the American South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
has become dated, in 2004 the Irish Repertory Theatre
Irish Repertory Theatre
The Irish Repertory Theatre is an Off Broadway theatre, founded by Ciarán O’Reilly and Charlotte Moore, which opened its doors in September 1988, with Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars.The mission of the theatre was and remains:...
staged a well-received off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
production starring Melissa Errico
Melissa Errico
-Biography:Born in Manhattan, Errico moved to Manhasset on Long Island at an early age. Her parents, a sculptor and a physician/concert pianist, supported her early interest in ballet, and gymnastics, and Melissa competed nationally as a gymnast...
and Malcolm Gets
Malcolm Gets
Hugh Malcolm Gerard Gets is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Richard in the American television sitcom Caroline in the City. Gets is also a dancer, singer, composer, classically trained pianist, vocal director, and choreographer. He has a small part in the film adaptation of...
.
Film adaptations
In the mid-1950s an animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
feature film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
began production, directed by John Hubley
John Hubley
John Hubley was an American animation director, art director, producer and writer of traditional animation films known for both his formal experimentation and for his emotional realism which stemmed from his tendency to cast his own children as voice actors in his films.- Biography :Hubley was...
. The crew included Art Babbit, Bill Tytla
Bill Tytla
Vladimir Peter "Bill" Tytla was one of the original Disney animators and is considered by many to be the best character animator to work during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation...
and Paul Julian
Paul Julian
Paul Julian was an American artist and designer most noted for his work as a background artist for Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes cartoon shorts. He worked primarily for director Friz Freleng's Sylvester and Tweety Bird shorts...
. Among the cast were Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
, Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
, Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Barry Fitzgerald
Barry Fitzgerald
Barry Fitzgerald was an Irish stage, film and television actor.-Life:He was born William Joseph Shields in Walworth Road, Portobello, Dublin, Ireland. He is the older brother of Irish actor Arthur Shields. He went to Skerry's College, Dublin, before going on to work in the civil service, while...
, Jim Backus
Jim Backus
James Gilmore "Jim" Backus was a radio, television, film, and voice actor. Among his most famous roles are the voice of Mr...
and David Burns
David Burns (actor)
David Burns was an American Broadway theatre and motion picture actor and singer.Burns was born on Mott Street in the Manhattan Chinatown of New York City. He made his Broadway debut in Face the Music in 1932, Cole Porter's Nymph Errant was his London debut, and he appeared in many comedies and...
plus David Wayne and Ella Logan from the original Broadway production. The era's McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
caused financing to be withdrawn due to Hubley's refusal to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Pre-production
Pre-production
Pre-production or In Production is the process of preparing all the elements involved in a film, play, or other performance.- In film :...
artwork, sketches from the storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
, character designs, the script and some of the soundtrack recording have been recovered. Examples of the art and designs were published in the March/April 1993 issue of Print
Print (magazine)
The publication, Print, A Quarterly Journal of the Graphic Arts, was a limited edition quarterly periodical begun in 1940 and continued under different names up to the present day as Print, a bimonthly American magazine about visual culture and design.In its current format, Print documents and...
to illustrate an article by animation historian John Canemaker
John Canemaker
John Cannizzaro Jr. , better known as John Canemaker, is an independent animator, animation historian, author, teacher and lecturer. In 1980, he began teaching and developing the animation program at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts', Kanbar Institute of Film and Television Department...
about the backstory of the project.
A 1968
1968 in film
The year 1968 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 30 - The film The Lion in Winter, starring Katharine Hepburn, debuts.* November 1 - The MPAA's film rating system is introduced.-Top grossing films :- Awards :...
film version
Finian's Rainbow (film)
Finian's Rainbow is a 1968 American musical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola that stars Fred Astaire and Petula Clark. The screenplay by E. Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy is based on their 1947 stage musical of the same name.-Plot:...
with Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
, Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele
Tommy Steele OBE , is an English entertainer. Steele is widely regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star.-Singer:...
and Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
was directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
.
2009 Encores! Concert and Broadway revival
New York's City Center Encores!
Encores!
Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert is a program that has been presented by New York City Center since 1994. Encores! is dedicated to performing the full score of musicals that rarely are heard in New York City...
series performed a concert version of the musical from March 26, 2009 through March 29. Directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle
Warren Carlyle
Warren Carlyle is a director and choreographer who was born in Norwich, Norfolk, England. He received Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Director of a Musical for Finian's Rainbow.-Biography:...
, it starred Jim Norton
Jim Norton (actor)
Jim Norton is an Irish character actor.-Performances:Jim Norton has been acting for over forty years in theatre, television, and movies, and frequently plays clergymen, most notably Bishop Brennan in the sitcom Father Ted, as well as in The Sweeney , Peak Practice , Sunset Heights , A Love Divided...
and Kate Baldwin
Kate Baldwin
-Biography:Born in Evanston, Illinois, Baldwin graduated from the theatre program at Northwestern University in 1997.-Career:Kate Baldwin made her Broadway debut in The Full Monty in 2000, followed by appearances in Thoroughly Modern Millie and Wonderful Town...
as Finian and Sharon, with Cheyenne Jackson
Cheyenne Jackson
Cheyenne Jackson is an American actor and singer. He started in regional theater when he moved to Seattle, and after moving to New York City, made his 2002 Broadway theatre debut understudying both male leads in the Tony Award-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie...
as Woody and Jeremy Bobb as Og, the leprechaun.
A fully staged Broadway revival opened at the St. James Theatre
St. James Theatre
The St. James Theatre is located at 246 W. 44th St. Broadway, New York City, New York. It was built by Abraham L. Erlanger, theatrical producer and a founding member of the Theatrical Syndicate, on the site of the original Sardi's restaurant. It opened in 1927 as The Erlanger...
on October 29, 2009, with most of the Encores! cast and director-choreographer Carlyle returning. Notable replacements to the cast were Christopher Fitzgerald
Christopher Fitzgerald (actor)
Christopher Cantwell Fitzgerald is an American actor, singer, mime, clown, juggler, and acrobat. He is best known for his role as Boq in the musical Wicked and his role of Igor in Young Frankenstein, for which he earned Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama Desk Award, and Tony Award...
as Og, David Shramm as Senator Rawkins and Chuck Cooper
Chuck Cooper (actor)
This article is about the African-American actor. For the late former pioneering African-American NBA basketball player, see Chuck Cooper .Chuck Cooper is an American actor....
as Rawkins transformed into a black man. Ernest Harburg, Yip Harburg's son and president of the Harburg Foundation, said "The satire of our economic system is particularly relevant right now [2009], given the nation’s deep financial woes."
The producers closed the show on January 17, 2010, stating that the "economic realities of Broadway today" did not allow them to play for as long as they had hoped. The production sold approximately two-thirds of its seats for the 15-week run. Garth Drabinsky
Garth Drabinsky
Garth Howard Drabinsky, OC is a former Canadian film and theatrical producer and entrepreneur. In 2009, he was convicted and sentenced to prison for fraud and forgery. His sentence is stayed, pending appeal.-Biography:...
offered to try to rescue the revival and secure Canadian tour commitments, but the producers rejected his proposal.
The show has been nominated for 2010 Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical, Best Leading Actress in a Musical (Baldwin) and Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Fitzgerald).
A short spoof was part of episode 19 of the 1970 season of Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
Song list
Act I- Overture
- This Time of the Year
- How Are Things in Glocca Morra?How Are Things in Glocca Morra?"How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" is a popular song about a fictional village in Ireland.The music was composed by Burton Lane and the lyrics written by E. Y. Harburg. The song was published in 1946 and introduced in the 1947 musical Finian's Rainbow. There is no actual Glocca Morra in Ireland...
- Look to the Rainbow
- Old Devil MoonOld Devil Moon"Old Devil Moon" is a popular song composed by Burton Lane, with lyrics by E.Y. Harburg for the 1947 musical Finian's Rainbow.-Notable recordings:*Rosemary Clooney - Out Of This World , At Long Last...
- How Are Things in Glocca Morra? (Reprise)
- Something Sort of Grandish
- If This Isn't LoveIf This Isn't LoveFor the song by Jennifer Hudson, see If This Isn't Love For the song by The Saturdays, see If This Is Love"If This Isn't Love" is a popular song....
- Something Sort of Grandish (Reprise)
- Necessity
- (That) Great Come-and-Get-It-Day
Act II
- When the Idle Poor Become the Idle Rich
- Old Devil MoonOld Devil Moon"Old Devil Moon" is a popular song composed by Burton Lane, with lyrics by E.Y. Harburg for the 1947 musical Finian's Rainbow.-Notable recordings:*Rosemary Clooney - Out Of This World , At Long Last...
(Reprise) - Fiddle Faddle
- The Begat
- Look to the Rainbow
- When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love
- If This Isn't LoveIf This Isn't LoveFor the song by Jennifer Hudson, see If This Isn't Love For the song by The Saturdays, see If This Is Love"If This Isn't Love" is a popular song....
(Reprise) - That Great Come-and-Get-It-Day (Finale)
Awards and nominations
1947 Tony Awards- Best Featured Actor in a Musical, David Wayne [winner]
- Best Choreography, Michael Kidd [winner]
1948 Tony Awards
- Conductor and Musical Director, Milton Rosenstock [winner]
1956 Tony Awards
- Best Featured Actor in a Musical, Will Mahoney (nominee)
2010 Tony Awards
- Best Revival of a Musical (nominee)
- Best Leading Actress in a Musical, Kate Baldwin (nominee)
- Best Featured Actor in a Musical, Christopher Fitzgerald (nominee)
2010 Drama Desk Awards
- Outstanding Revival of a Musical (nominee)
- Outstanding Actor in a Musical, Cheyenne Jackson (nominee)
- Outstanding Actress in a Musical, Kate Baldwin (nominee)
- Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Christopher Fitzgerald (nominee)
- Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Terri White (nominee)
- Outstanding Director of a Musical, Warren Carlyle (nominee)
- Outstanding Choreography, Warren Carlyle (nominee)
- Outstanding Sound Design in a Musical, Scott Lehrer (nominee)
2010 Outer Critics Circle Award
Outer Critics Circle Award
The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
- Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) (nominee)
- Outstanding Actress in a Musical, Kate Baldwin (nominee)
- Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, Christopher Fitzgerald (nominee)
- Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical, Terri White (nominee)
Recording
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
was the label's first recording of a Broadway musical. The label used the album to introduce its new LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
format in June 1948. In 1988, the album was released on CD, and in 2000, a second CD version appeared that was remastered from the original acetates and restored some material originally recorded but cut from the show, including three bonus tracks in which Harburg discusses the writing of and sings "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" and "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love," as well as singing "Don't Pass Me By," a song cut from the show. http://shopping.yahoo.com/p:Finian's%20Rainbow%20%5BOriginal%20Broadway%20Cast%5D:1921064852
A recording of the original cast of the 1960 Broadway production, starring Jeannie Carson, Howard Morris, Biff mcGuire, Carol Brice, Sorrell Booke and Bobby Howes was released on RCA Victor LSO-1057.
A cast recording of the 2009 revival was recorded on December 7 by PS Classics and released on February 2, 2010.