FINIAN’S RAINBOW FOUND ITS POT OF GOLD ON BROADWAY
FIRST BROADWAY REVIVAL OF CLASSIC MUSICAL IN NEARLY 50 YEARS
Photo: Center- (L to R) Cheyenne Jackson, Kate Baldwin, Jim Norton with the Cast. Courtesy of Richard Kornberg & Associates.
BY: LYNN MARIE
If you’re looking for an entertaining fine musical this holiday season, Finian’s Rainbow is the ticket. Finian’s Rainbow tells the story of the Irishman Finian McLonergan and his daughter Sharon who take a trip to a small Southern town in the imaginary state of Missitucky with the goal to bury a stolen pot of gold in the shadows of Fort Knox, in the mistaken idea it will grow and reproduce. They have been followed from Ireland by the owner of the gold, a leprechaun, who shows up determined to recoup his fortune.
The Broadway production has an award winning cast including Jim Norton (Finian McLonergan) who won a 2007 Olivier Award and a 2008 Tony Award for The Seafarer. In New York he has appeared in The Weir, Juno and the Paycock, Dublin Carol and Port Authority.
Kate Baldin (Sharon McLonergan) has appeared on Broadway in The Full Monty, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Wonderful Town. Cheyenne Jackson (Woody Mahoney) has appeared on Broadway in Xanadu and All Shook Up. Cheyenne recently recorded the album The Power of Two with Michael Feinstein.
The musical’s score is one of the best in Broadway’s history. “Old Devil Moon,” “If This Isn’t Love,” “That Great Come-and-Get-It Day", and “Look to the Rainbow,” just to name a few.
Of course like all fairy tales they must come to an end. Sharon and Woody are wed and bid a fond farewell to Finian, who leaves Rainbow Valley in search of his own rainbow.
Finian’s Rainbow is currently playing at the St. James Theatre 246 West 44th Street New York City. For more information on tickets and performance schedule please visit www.telecharge.com.
This will be the first Broadway revival of the classic musical in nearly 50 years. The show had its Broadway premiere in 1947, which ran for 725 performances and won three Tony Awards, including one for star David Wayne and one for legendary choreographer Michael Kidd who made his Broadway debut with the show.
One of the first of the socially conscious postwar musicals, Finian’s Rainbow is unusual in that it deals in a satirical way with issues of class, race, and economics, most specifically in the character of a bigoted Southern senator who is accidentally turned black. It was also notable in its time for featuring an integrated cast at a time when most shows did not and for featuring a mute character who expresses herself solely through dance. The musical was revived in 1955 at City Center and in 1960 at Broadway’s 46th Street Theatre.
© 2009-2010 EMOL.org New York Entertainment Magazine. All rights reserved.
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