Finian's Rainbow is the story of the Irishman Finian McLonergan (Jim Norton), and his daughter Sharon (Kate Baldwin) who travel to a small Southern town in the mythical state of Missitucky with plans to bury a stolen pot of gold in the shadows of Fort Knox, in the mistaken belief it will grow and multiply. They have been followed from Ireland by the owner of the gold, a leprechaun (Jeremy Bobb), who shows up determined to recover his treasure. Harburg and Lane created one of Broadway's greatest popular scores, including "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?," "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love (I Love the Girl I'm Near)," "That Old Devil Moon," and "If This Isn't Love."
Finian's Rainbow opened at the 46th Street Theatre on January 10, 1947 and played a total of 725 performances. Michael Kidd won the Tony Award for his choreography (In an interesting note, the show played at New York City Center twice before - in 1955 and 1960, presented by the New York City Light Opera.).
The cast includes: Kate Baldwin, Jeremy Bobb, Philip Bosco, Guy Davis, Alina Faye, Cheyenne Jackson, Jim Norton, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Andy Weems and William Youmans, with Tanya Birl, Bree Branker, Meggie Cansler, Bernard Dotson, Leslie Donna Flesner, Lisa Gajda, Tim Hartman, Mary Illes, Tyrick Wiltez Jones, Denis Lambert, Kevin Ligon, Monica L. Patton, Joe Aaron Reid, Devin Richards, Steve Schepis, Rashidra Scott, J.D. Webster and Terri White.
Kate Baldwin's Broadway credits include Wonderful Town, Thoroughly Modern Millie and The Full Monty. She also performed in Conversation with Stephen Sondheim at the Kravis Center in Florida.
Jeremy Bobb has appeared on Broadway in Is He Dead? and Translations. His other New York appearances include The Calamity of Kat Kat and Willie, Love: A Tragic Etude, Hell and Back and Murder in the First. His television and film credits include August; White Lies, Black Sheep; and "Law & Order."
Philip Bosco received a Tony Award nomination for his Broadway debut in The Rape of the Belt in 1960 and a Tony Award for his performance in Lend Me a Tenor in 1990. His many Broadway credits include Cyrano de Bergerac, Man and Superman, Saint Joan, Major Barbara, Heartbreak House and You Never Can Tell, winning Tony nominations for the last three. He also appeared with Shirley Knight in Come Back, Little Sheba, An Inspector Calls, The Heiress, Copenhagen, ,Twelve Angry Men and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. His many film credits include Hogan's Goat, Working Girl, Children of a Lesser God, Wonder Boy, The Savages and My Best Friend's Wedding. Mr. Bosco won a Daytime Emmy award for his appearance in the ABC Weekend Special "Read Between The Lines" and is a series regular on the FX series "Damages."
Alina Faye started her training with Diane East at the age of five, and joined American Ballet Theatre in 1999. As a member of the Corps de Ballet, Ms. Faye danced the full-length ballets along with featured and soloist roles. After four years with ABT Faye left the company and has since performed with various choreographers in New York and San Francisco, and can be seen in the short film Harrison Bergeron.
Cheyenne Jackson made his Broadway debut understudying both male leads in the Tony Award-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. On and Off Broadway, Cheyenne has appeared in the Encores! production of Damn Yankees, Xanadu (Drama League, Drama Desk nominations), All Shook Up (Theater World Award, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle nomination), the premiere cast of Altar Boyz, Aida, The Cartells, On the 20th Century, and The 24 Hour Plays. His film and television credits include: the Academy Award nominated United 93, "Family Practice," "Lipstick Jungle," "Life on Mars" and "Ugly Betty." This month Cheyenne made his solo nightclub debut at Feinstein's at the Regency.
Jim Norton won Tony and Olivier Awards for his work in Conor McPherson's The Seafarer and previously appeared on Broadway in McPherson's The Weir, for which he won the Olivier Award, England's top theater honor. Mr. Norton's many film credits include Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and a leading role in Sam Peckinpaw's Straw Dogs. He can currently be seen in the film The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Norton has recorded the whole of James Joyce's Ulysses for Naxos Audio.
Ruben Santiago-Hudson appeared on Broadway in Jelly's Last Jam and received the 1996 Tony for August Wilson's Seven Guitars. Mr. Santiago-Hudson's film credits include Coming to America and Domestic Disturbance. On television he has appeared on the daytime dramas "Another World" and "All My Children" and the primetime series "The Cosby Mysteries," "New York Undercover," "NYPD Blue," "Touched by an Angel," "The West Wing," "Third Watch," "Law & Order: SVU," and five episodes of "Law & Order." He wrote Lackawanna Blues, an autobiographical play in which he portrayed himself and some twenty different characters from his past, which he adapted for a highly-acclaimed, award-winning 2005 HBO film that won him the Humanitas Prize and earned him Emmy and Writers Guild of America Award nominations.
Rob Berman is currently in his second season as music director of Encores! where he has conducted productions of Stairway to Paradise, Applause, Music in the Air and the Encores! Summer Stars production of Damn Yankees. Broadway credits include Irving Berlin's White Christmas, The Pajama Game, Wonderful Town and The Apple Tree. Earlier this year he supervised and arranged the world premiere of The Gershwins' An American In Paris. Berman won a Helen Hayes Award for his musical direction of Sunday in the Park with George at the Kennedy Center. He is also music director of the Kennedy Center Honors Orchestra.
The Newman's Own Foundation is a proud sponsor of Encores! The Newman's Own Foundation is an independent private foundation which derives its grant-making income from royalty payments received in conjunction with the sale of Newman's Own food products. Since the inception of Newman's Own in the early 1980s, over $200 million has been donated to thousands of charitable organizations worldwide.
The 2008-2009 Encores! season is made possible in part by the Stephanie and Fred Shuman Fund for Encores! with additional support from the Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust and Roz and Jerry Meyer.
New York City Center Encores! (Jack Viertel, Artistic Director; Rob Berman, Music Director) has, since 1994, celebrated the rarely-heard works of America's most important composers and lyricists. Conceived as
concert versions, each Encores! season gives three scores the chance to be heard as originally intended by their creators. Over the years, Encores! has presented the works of the Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, Bock and Harnick, Burt Bacharach, Kander and Ebb, Comden and Green, and many others. The program is the recipient of a special 2000 Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre, as well as an Outer Critics Circle Award, Lucille Lortel Award and Jujamcyn Theaters Award.
New York City Center (Arlene Shuler, President and CEO) has long been known and beloved by New York audiences not only as one of the City's preeminent performing art institutions but also as an accessible and welcoming venue for dance and theater. New York City Center produces the Tony-honored Encores!
Photos by Joan Marcus
