Finian's Rainbow

Finian's Rainbow (1947), a musical fantasy by E. Y. Harburg (book, lyrics), Fred Saidy (book), Burton Lane (music). [46th Street Theatre, 725 perf.] Finian McLonergan ( Albert Sharpe) and his daughter, Sharon ( Ella Logan), come to America from Ireland lugging a crock of gold, which Finian hopes to plant at Fort Knox and watch grow. They are pursued by the former owner of the gold, the mischievous leprechaun Og ( David Wayne), who is slowly turning into a human. Stopping at Rainbow Valley, Missitucky, Sharon falls in love with labor organizer Will Mahoney ( Donald Richards) and encounters the racist Senator Billboard Rawkins ( Robert Pitkin), who whines, “My whole family's hated immigrants ever since we came to this country.” Through the magic power of the crock, Rawkins is turned black and made to see the penalties of his attitudes before being restored to his former self. Sharon gets Will, Og falls for a human female, and Finian continues his wandering, hoping that “we meet in Glocca Morra some fine day.” Notable songs: How Are Things in Glocca Morra?; If This Isn't Love; Look to the Rainbow; Old Devil Moon; When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love; Something Sort of Grandish. The creative and daring musical, which twitted reactionaries, was so sunny, so witty, and so melodic that it delighted almost everyone. Billboard Rawkins, for example, spoofed Mississippi's notorious Senator Bilbo and Congressman Rankin. Because much of the humor was topical, revivals have been infrequent, though the Lane‐Harburg score remains one of Broadway's best.